Rediscovering Connor
by VerelLupin
Summary: John loves Cameron. She was forced to leave him so he jumped into time to get her back. But without restrictions Cameron must rediscover who John Connor is and what he means to her independent of the war, once and for all. Sequel to Now He Needs Her.
1. Leap Backwards

**Here it is, the sequel to Now He Needs Her!!**

**Sorry no John or Cameron in this one but they will be in the next one.**

**Some cursing - Derek curses when he's freaked out. You've been warned!  
**

**Enjoy....**

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_She was standing in the dark hallway of her house. Before her was John's bedroom door. It swung open revealing a time portal to the dark future._

_She stepped through and put the plate full of pancakes on the table. A cot situated to the right drew her attention and she stepped towards it. A figure with a dark head of hair was barely visible over the covers._

_She pulled the blanket back and…_

"Sarah? Sarah?"

"John! John!" She screamed and instantly began to struggle out of the arms holding her.

"Sarah, calm down. It's me, Derek."

She struggled even more as the declaration just made her believe that she was still dreaming.

"Sarah! Wake up for fuck's sake."

The curse jarred her out of her twisted sleep and Sarah Connor opened her eyes. "Derek? Derek, are you really here?"

His eyes crinkled in good natured amusement. "Yeah, sucks huh?"

"A little bit." She replied using him as leverage to rise to her feet and off the fluffy bed. "Nice place you got here." She remarked looking around the comfortably decorated room to gain control over her emotions.

"Yeah, everything you could want. Only drawback is they lock you in and don't let you go but other than---What the fuck!!" he exclaimed holding his jaw where Sarah had just delivered a serious uppercut.

"That was for making John cry!" she responded and punched him a second time.

"Shit, Sarah seriously what the hell?" he shouted grabbing her wrist and pulling her to his chest.

"That was for dying and making me cry! Damm inconsiderate asshole," she mumbled dropping her head to his chest. "I hate you right now."

Derek smoothed back her hair, "No you don't." He looked around him realizing that they were very much alone. "Where's John and the me--Cameron?"

Sarah looked away feeling as if she had failed as a mother for letting her son time travel for something that wasn't even human. "He jumped."

Derek not understanding what she was saying repeated what she had said, "Jumped?"

"He time jumped. He went after Cameron. She gave her chip to John Henry." Sarah had to take a deep breath for this one. "She left a message for John and he fell apart when he found it so he went after her with the help of the Turk and Catherine Weaver, the bitch is a T-1000."

Derek looked down at the raging green eyes of the woman he had crossed time to protect. It must run in the family, this idea of jumping into time for an unattainable woman. The fact that his nephew had just done exactly what his father and uncle had done before him nearly made him laugh.

It would have been funny if the woman John was in love with wasn't a hunk of metal and if he hadn't just screwed over the entire human race to be with it. "Whoa! The turk that we've been looking for is here and John used it to as a TDE and took Catherine Weaver with him? That doesn't make any sense and who the fuck is John Henry?"

"I'll tell you everything in the car. Grab some stuff and I'll grab the Turk."

Derek had nothing in the room that was his so he just followed Sarah. She turned into a doorway and he was impressed by the lack of damage to the room. TDE's in the future had their own blast proof and cement bunkers to avoid casualties.

He immediately saw the message still scrolling on the screen.

_I'm Sorry John_

_I'm Sorry John_

_I'm Sorry John_

_I'm Sorry John_

"What's she sorry for?" Sarah gave him a dirty look and he snapped, "I mean specifically."

"Derek, how did you survive?" Sarah asked quietly.

"What do you mean? Survive what?"

Sarah looked carefully at the knobs and dials on the interface that had served as John Henry's extension. She managed to pull up the security tapes of that day and she heard Derek gasp as they entered the residence of Catherine Weaver. "This. How did you survive this?"

Derek stood right next to her and together they saw the unknown machine take out the babysitter while someone talked to a little red headed girl. The girl ran into the garage where she ran into John. John was standing with his back to the side entrance of the garage.

Derek tensed, easily picturing a bullet entering his nephew's vulnerable back. As if on cue the terminator opened fire but John with a sixth sense born of being shot at every other day had already dropped to the ground and Sarah had shot back. The machine turned its sight on her and she was pushed to the side by Cameron who took the intended bullets.

They fought and the machine threw her hard against the wall and she slid to the floor where she remained but with her knocked out the machine didn't attempt to re-engage her. Instead it took off and went in search of the Connors. The camera view was still in the garage but additional camera angles had opened and Derek saw his death.

He was checking the sides of the windows just as the other terminator came around the corner. He gave no time and with one clean direct shot took out Derek. Derek had seen a lot of messed up shit but this definitely took the cake. He'd been killed so quickly that his body was still moving forward unaware that it was dead. It finally got the signal or not in this case and crumpled to the ground.

He felt disgusted at himself for being so stupid and being taken out in such a rookie fashion. "I can't believe the asshole clipped me so quick. I can't believe I let him."

Sarah turned to him a look of pure disgust on her face, "are you serious? You're bitching because you didn't die more heroically. You died! Get it, you died!" she shouted pushing him away from her.

Derek had the grace to cringe and he watched the rest of the video in silence. Cameron still in the garage got up and she intercepted the terminator and threw him over the balcony before he could so much as look at John. Sarah followed Cameron's lead back into the house and John followed with the little girl tucked securely in his arms.

Derek's body stopped Cameron cold and Sarah hastily moved to the side to avoid colliding with the cyborg. Exasperated at being stopped Sarah turned to see what had gotten the bodyguard's attention. If Derek had ever had a doubt that Sarah Connor loved him and not just as a replacement for his brother this scene erased it like no words of love ever could.

She walked over to the body and lowered her hand and slid it to his neck. "Sarah, with all that blood. Why would you check for a pulse?"

"I had to be sure." She said quietly her gaze trained on the Sarah in the video.

It was a split second but he saw how her hand caressed his jaw before checking his pockets and sliding out his favorite baretta and tucking it into her own jeans.

"You remembered not to leave anything behind."

"I did remember." The tape stopped and she found another. This one would be doubly hard to watch and he instinctively curled his arm around her shoulders.

It had been so terrible to see John in that state but seeing the image that the camera spewed back out was literally making her want to vomit. The desperation and the way he pleaded had been too much for her then but she had been unable to escape. However with John no longer in that room Sarah could and she did.

Derek emerged after a while shaking his head. "We're too late. He already loves it more than he ever did in my future. How could you let him go after her?"

She faced the wall and her shoulders were hunched. She knew Derek would question not only why she had let him go by himself but why she had let him go at all.

"When he was twelve another terminator sacrificed itself for him. It dropped itself into a vat of molten iron even after John commanded it not too. He pleaded to me and it like he did in that tape. He had named it Uncle Bob and if that machine could have cried it would have."

Sarah paused and she clenched her fists at the memories. "Cameron did the same and she had told me several days before that she would have to leave John same as me. That we had to let him do it alone or he would never be the John that he needed to be."

"Sarah---"

"He's had so many disappointments and seen so much death. He's lost everybody and I've seen what he becomes and Derek I don't want him to be that. I don't want my son alone with nobody to be himself with but a cyborg that looks like a pretty girl…"

"I know that's why----"

"Let me finish, goddammit!" Sarah wiped roughly at her eyes and faced him, "but if that cyborg is willing to give him a watch that will detonate her on the push of a button or is willing to show me the future so I keep her away from him and ultimately leave him so as not to cause him any more harm…then how can I deny him the chance to go after someone not something..."

It was becoming more and more difficult for her to cut herself off from the machines that had been a part of her life for so long. "---someone who will love him unconditionally, someone who will protect him like I was never able to while still managing to keep his humanity intact and make him someone worth loving and not just someone to obey blindly."

Derek could not understand how she could be so willing to hand him over to the metal but then he wasn't John's mother. He wasn't even John's father.

He was only his uncle and even he could see that although they're had been mutterings about John's relationship with the machine in the future. John had still been an excellent leader and example to follow and he had been above reproach in all his dealings even with the cyborg but Derek wouldn't lie to himself and say that he hadn't noticed how the General never seemed as content with Katherine Brewster as he'd been when the metal had just been around.

"So what now?" he asked uncomfortable with this new more emotionally charged Sarah.

"You explain to me why you didn't die and we find a way to prepare for John to come home or we find a way to go after him."


	2. Twists of Time

**I know an update!! Thank the Connors. **

**It was scary for a while. I have never abandoned a story but I was close with this one.**

**This whole story and this chapter in particular is dedicated to kaotic2. **

**If it had not been for those PM's I would have never gotten it up and running.**

**Thanks a whole bunch to everybody that has stuck with it and the lovely reviews. I hope to update more regularly at least once a week.**

**Enjoy....**

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**Ten Miles from Serrano Point – Undisclosed location of Resistance Base #4**

It was just another vast expanse of rubble and dark skies. The landscape could have easily been the desert hideout his mother had told him about if it hadn't been for the three and four stories of twisted metal all around him.

"Is this…?"

"Its somewhere near what used to be downtown L.A. or so I've been told." Allison supplied, she took one look at John's face. "Are you ok?"

For a second he wondered at what she must have seen on his features and if she was totally desensitized to the horror since it was all she had ever known.

"I…I'm fine. In the bunkers---" **'Could a person truly forget what was outside the tunnels if they stayed in long enough? Could he ever get used to seeing this on a daily basis if he didn't get back. If he never found her?' **

He shook his head. **'No, he would not think that way. He was a Connor and he would not give up or give in to despair. Hadn't his mother taught him that he controlled his fate and no one else? He'd find her or jump into the past and or future however many times it is was necessary.'**

"It's been a while since I've been out," he finished but Allison had already turned to observe their surroundings. Derek gripped her shoulder and whispered something to which she looked back at him briefly before nodding her head in agreement.

'**Nice more secrets.'** John resolved from that point on not to let the environment affect him. He'd have years to deal with this if it all came out as he hoped. He wouldn't care if he had to live in this wasteland as long as he had Cam with him.

He set his riffle more firmly in his hand replaying all the weapons handling his mother had grilled into him. The skulls and endoskeletons of terminators new and old were scattered between their surveillance point and the darkened building a few miles away.

"So what are we here for?"

"Look kid, its need to know and you don't." Derek snapped while signaling the five or so men that had accompanied them. He was left to hang back with Allison while Derek and his men took down a few scattered machines.

Their weapons were plasma based and seem to cut through the few machines like a hot knife through butter. The building was dark along the main perimeter with a very light patrol.

"So what are we supposed to do?"

Allison in that moment turned and smiled genuinely, "bait."

She let loose a barrage of very loud artillery into the two nearest terminators. She shoved him down just as response fire hit the wall of concrete where his head had been. "Move!!"

They ducked between leftover walls and freeway remnants. John went down missing his footing in the unfamiliar terrain. Embarrassment colored his face at how dumb he must have looked. His mother was probably cursing a blue streak back in their time.

He dropped to his stomach and expertly shot off several rounds hitting the leg mechanics of the nearest T-500 and blasting apart his compatriot.

That was not much of an accomplishment as he thought since the thing was bulky and moved about as fast as the old Derek on garbage duty. It did make up for its girth and speed with a great amount of accuracy and rounds.

Shrapnel from his hiding place rained down upon him forcing him to crawl through a carpet of filth and dirt that would have made even Derek Reese cringe. Allison had snuck up behind it and shot it directly in the back of the head but she was surprised hit from behind by a much smaller model.

Her head snapped back and she fell in an undignified lump.

John didn't even think. All he saw was a something attacking his Cam.

He just lined up his shot and took it out just as it raised its cannon to obliterate her. The machine wobbled then crumbled onto itself, Allison groaned and he raced to her side. He bent down ready to pick her up and move her to the relative safety of concrete to the side of the ambush point.

"Cam, I'm here," he breathed sliding her hair behind her ear ignoring the brown waves in favor of goose eggs and any other bumps on her head. After assuring himself that she was alright and just a bit bruised he finally slid one hand behind her back. "I came for you."

She blinked and using him as leverage helped herself up. "I can stand, John."

They stood like that for just a breath. Him with his arm wrapped around her waist and holding her up and her with her arm around his neck.

"_John, its not polite to stare," she muttered opening her eyes wide._

"_I guess I don't really care right now," he said. _

_Cameron lowered her gaze to his neck, "will you tell Sarah about us?"_

_He turned his head on the pillow staring up at the ceiling as he thought. He shifted back onto his side and reached out fingering a strand of her hair. "I will today." _

_He used it to sweep down her cheek. "You promise?"_

"_One condition." He said and she rolled closer pressing her nose against his. _

_The morning light framed her brown eyes making them brighter when he kissed her as a_ _confirmation that he was not dreaming and that this perfect woman had chosen to be with him._

"_John?" she closed her eyes as she felt his body meet hers._

"_Promise you won't leave me." He said pressing his mouth to her eyelids._

"_I won't leave," she said pulling him onto her frame. _

"_Promise." He demanded and pleaded becoming caught up in the contours and flawless skin that she was made of. "Please, Cameron."_

_Cameron wrapped her arms around him, "I'll always be with you. I promise."_

_He sighed and she surrendered to him._

Her brown eyes stared into his green ones with none of the mistrust that had been present in their first meeting. "Who is---"

"Connor…Young…METAL!" Derek's deep voice broke through the haze that had settled around them startling both out of the surprising intimate embrace.

Allison pulled out of his arms to shoot but John brought her down with him as the cascade of bullets shot over their heads. He lifted his own riffle and shot but it was wide. Allison, who was semi-pinned beneath him pulled a hand away from his chest.

Her small hand came away coated in red. She patted herself not finding anything injured she then raised it to her face understanding what it meant.

Her silent question was what made John move off her just to feel the sticky substance running down his side before his vision swam and her face blurred into darkness.

"John…John," she whispered. He shifted in the bed wanting to sleep a little longer.

He had told Cameron that being woken up roughly could lead to insomnia if a person was startled too often. He had told her as a joke but Cameron had taken it seriously judging by the softness of her tone. He breathed deeper in an attempt to fool her scans and make her go away.

He kept his eyes closed hoping to force his body back to sleep. "You better not be watching me," he mumbled. The figure on the bed said nothing.

**'****She must be in a curious mood.'**

Predictably she took any desire to attempt sleep. John knew from previous experience that he would just lay in bed, not get any rest and then take out his grouchiness on her so he decided to get up and save her the hassle of bothering him again.

"I thought I told you not to do that, Cam…" he trailed off as the details of the room came into focus. Gone was his small bed and brightly colored walls and in their place were dark walls and several shadows of what had to be cots identical to what he was laying on.

"...I really hate that." He muttered draping his arm over his face so as to not have to confirm that this was not his room and that Allison sitting patiently puzzled at the side of his bed was not Cameron.

"I didn't mean to startle you but I wanted to thank to you and also talk to you before…who's Cameron?" she rushed out.

"Thank me?" he sidestepped.

She looked down at her hands and looked back up.

"For what?" he asked.

Allison tilted her head in that way of Cameron's which until now he had not realized how dear it was to him, that the mere sight of it twisted his gut reminding him of what he was still missing. "Don't you remember?"

John just stared at her.

He was still stuck on the mannerism that had robbed his breath. **'Where are you Cam? I need you back.' **He snapped himself out of his pitying thoughts. He was not going to be moping around anymore. He did enough of that before he leapt. He had to learn to toughen up and be less of a wreck. He had to lead and for that he had to take charge even if he was tearing up inside.

"Remember what?" he questioned swinging his frame off the bed and breathing in the pain that flowed through his body at the new position.

She got up and walked around the bed. She stood in front of him with her face turned up to his. "You saved my life and got hurt because of me." She explained leaning forward and placing her hand on his chest and over the bandage that covered a wound that miraculously had missed his heart and vital arteries.

John immediately removed her hand and her expression became closed off and blank nearly making John wince. He had known that Allison was Cameron's template but to see it in her actions and way she spoke to him was getting harder to deal with the longer he remained unaware of his terminator's location.

Allison had placed a few feet between them clearly explaining something he had not heard thanks to losing himself in his own thoughts. "---they got it and that was why we were on recon near what used to be Serrano Point. You got hurt taking down a T-700. That's one of the newest models, by the way." She said this last part with an accusatory tone as if she knew he was hiding something.

"I remember now, how long have I been out?" he asked more to put distance between him and her suspicions than out of an actual desire to talk to her.

"Three days. You took a hard hit when you passed out." Allison replied moving towards the door, "hurry up and get dressed, Lt. Reese want to talk to you."

Allison slammed the door and he would bet that she was stomping away. He was very glad for the alone time. He had half feared she would offer to help him get dressed and he definitely did not like how she had touched him earlier.

Near as he could tell since he got hurt during the skirmish protecting her, she might now think something else was going on. He wanted to smack himself for staring at her like that.

It had not been his intention to hold her but he truly missed Cameron and he had let himself fantasize about Cameron and the first time he had met her as a sweet girl who needed help with computers.

His mind in that terrible moment had blurred them and look what that had gotten him, now he was out of sorts and in a surly mood from both his achy body and the constant reminder that at some point Allison would die and Cameron would be the one to cause it.

He sat down heavily on his cot before flopping back onto it earning him a pained grumble.

No matter how much he didn't want that to play out, it was the only way to get Cameron back the body that could house her chip and get back to their time and that sickened him.

He could not get close to Allison knowing what her fate was to be. He had to kill her infatuation with him before it became worse.

Luckily John did not see an attachment growing for her, which was very good and would help things stay simple and though Allison was three years his senior in this timeline he couldn't help feeling that she acted a bit like a spoiled fiver year old when she didn't get her way.

If her departure was anything to judge by.

He had noticed how much the Reese brothers catered to her. He sincerely wished she wasn't involved with either of them; that would be too weird to be explained away by any amount of time travel.

He let the scowl fall from his face replacing it with a thoughtful frown. He had grown too accustomed to someone pulling him down or shoving him for his own safety and now he'd received another battle scar for his trouble.

He glanced to his right and saw that a tray had been put on the makeshift table. His stomach gurgled and he was surprised to find that he was actually pretty hungry. He reached back pulling a hard piece of bread which he dunked in what passed for coffee to soften it up.

John had arrived in the future almost two weeks ago or so he figured since as far as he could tell in this place, they didn't really measure days. He wasn't used to being babied per say but he had grown careless. If he wanted to survive this future he would have to be on his guard.

Sarah and Derek were not here to shoot his way clear and Cameron was not here to take his bullets if he screwed up, this wound was a prime example. Also he was honestly ashamed that his first mission had been nearly fatal given all the training and gun play he had endured in his past.

He sincerely wished now that he had not insisted on going but when they mentioned Serrano Point, John had felt a tug at his subconscious. It was something that Jesse had said before he had left her and it had nagged him until he managed to be a part of the team.

Unfortunately the Reese men had agreed only to make sure that they could hinder his sweep of the layout of their current base, apparently they still didn't trust the stranger who had arrived with no explanation of how he had gotten to their secure base in nothing but his skin.

They had kept an annoyingly close eye giving him no opportunity to be alone much less contact Weaver or search for John Henry until now.

He lay back down and continued to contemplate what turn of events were happening with this new twist in time but in the meantime he would have to earn the praise that Cameron had heaped upon him.

_"You are him, you will be him."_

**Century - Base of General Robert Rydex – 2025 – Two weeks earlier.**

Cameron currently housed in John Henry landed half crouched near what was known as Century. She looked around careful not to access too much of John Henry's main frame.

After all he had been hacked by what she knew to be Skynet in its infancy.

It would be unwise for it to be allowed in her systems especially with her neuro net opened and full of what would make the first full profile of John Connor.

She walked for miles past Century. She took stock of the landscape as she dressed in clothes taken from a resistance fighter. She buried him out of respect.

She didn't need rest but she was not accustomed to such a large body and therefore took her time. The third day she came upon what would be the markers for the storage and underground bunker that Sarah Connor had put together for son.

She began a search pattern and slowly she began to dig until she hit the perimeter of the bunker. Cameron methodically put aside the dirt and made a hole large enough for her to crawl through but go unnoticed by search drones.

She would not place more of John's secrets in jeopardy.

She scanned as she walked and Cameron estimated that this tunnel had been disturbed no more than a week ago. She soon hit a metal hatch, which had plasma blast scorch marks.

Another heavily packed dirt tunnel opened before her and she again carefully made her way through it. She found a steel door encoded with a keypad and retinal scan.

The pad had been plasma blasted same as the metal hatch. She pulled it open and stepped into a dark cavernous room. A single camping lamp sat on a table.

It created a circle of light that barely illuminated the edge of the table. She used the infrared and the body on the cot was instantly visible.

She moved towards the lamp though she did not need it. She took it from the table and held it aloft over the prone body.

Dirt caked and scuffed black combat boots. Dark green army fatigue pants patched and tucked into the boots. Dark green army fatigues top stained by a darker shade of something missing buttons and torn.

An unshaven jaw on a heavily lined face with a jagged scar running up the right cheek and over the right eye stopping at the forehead and just beneath the hairline. Black hair unkempt and as dirt caked as the boots.

Cameron inched closer but was stopped by the plasma gun pressed against her abdomen. "Who the hell are you?" a gritty and rough voice demanded.

The eyes were green as ever but they were just as dark as their surroundings.

"It's me, John."

"Cameron?"


	3. Planning The Future

**I know I updated. Its a small miracle. I do have the next chapter done. So I will upload that on Tuesday at the latest.**

**Had to re-watch the whole second season and Terminator Salvation to get a feel for where I was going.**

**I will explain how Derek survived in the next chapter...(some may not find it plausible but I am working with limited knowledge of the T-1000s)**

**Just think artistic license and suspension of disbelief.**

**Enjoy...**

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**2005 – Just Beginnings - Slippers Private Ballet School**

"Where's my mommy, Mr. Ellison?"

James Ellison had been rehearsing what he was going to tell the little girl since he'd been commanded to pick her up.

"Your mother has been called away."

Savannah made no further inquiry and Ellison was immensely grateful that the child was used to the frequent absences of her mother. **'Not her mother. A machine, a terminator. That was Sarah Connor had called it.'**

"After I finish my homework, can I play with John Henry?"

Ellison looked at her wide innocent eyes, the poor kid was now an orphan and he had to lie to her about the whereabouts of her only friend. "John Henry is with your mother, Savannah."

"Oh, ok." The little girl tugged a picture book from her backpack and opened it; leaving Ellison to occupy his driving time with what he was going to do with a six-year old, a woman on the run from the FBI and a soldier from the future who was supposed to be dead.

Zeiracorp headquarters had looked better in Ellison's opinion. It certainly had seen a lot of excitement for a research building. Smoke encompassed the upper floors and there were policeman and firefighters everywhere.

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't go in there."

Ellison pulled out his security badge. "I work security for Mrs. Catherine Weaver. It is her wish for me to take out important classified data before it's comprised."

The firefighter looked at him, "I can't let you in. We have no idea if the building is stable."

Ellison looked towards the car that he had parked no more than a few seconds ago. He'd instructed Savannah not to leave the car just to ascertain whether he would be able to get to Sarah and Derek before the cops showed up.

It seemed that wouldn't be necessary as even now he could make out two distinctive figures crouching just behind the bumper.

He argued a little more fiercely just to make sure that the man's attention was on him and not the two loading what looked like a dead human being into the back of the car. "Look, I appreciate your concern but these documents are high priority. They are nowhere near the high floors. You can even accompany me if you want." Ellison tried again getting more and more agitated that they would be caught.

"I wish I could help but this is no longer just up to us. Bomb squad must clear the building before we can let any workers back into it. It shouldn't take more than a few hours. I'm really sorry."

With that the firefighter left Ellison standing helplessly by the sidewalk. He walked back to his car and climbed back in. Not the least bit surprised to find Sarah in the front and Derek stowed away in the back with Savannah. The little girl looked on as if having them there was perfectly normal.

"Drive." Sarah commanded.

Ellison seeing that he wouldn't be getting into the building anytime soon chose to obey and put the car into motion. "So where to?"

"The Weaver's house." Derek said.

"I'll drop you off and get back as soon as…"

"No need." Sarah interrupted.

Ellison kept his eyes on the road. He should have known that Sarah and Derek would have secured anything that could look damming. "Where's the girl?"

Sarah and Derek looked to each other in silent communication. "You know very well she is no girl." Derek grumbled looking down at the blank eyes that looked up at him from the floor of the car.

"Is she special like John Henry?" Savannah piped in delicately touching the flawless side of Cameron's face, "she's pretty."

Until this point all the adults had forgotten about the child in the car. "Umm…yeah she is." Ellison answered.

"Is she the other John's friend?" She asked stunning the car into silence.

"Did John say anything to you about his friend?" Derek asked with great difficulty. Ellison looked horrified and Sarah was pale as if she was going to be sick.

"He worried a lot about her. Said she was hurt. He likes her." Savannah shrugged.

It was with a charged silence that they arrived at the Weaver household. All the occupants of the car trying not to think of John and Cameron's constantly evolving relationship, one that even a child could see.

Sarah had mixed feelings about the whole thing and was glad for a break from thinking about it. She focused instead on the house before them. Gone was the blood and carnage from their previous visit but Sarah found herself unable to look at the hallway where she had thought Derek had perished.

Derek for his part went in cautiously making sure not to repeat the mistake the recorded Derek had made. Savannah had fallen asleep in the car and Ellison carried her in and deposited her on the couch.

Sarah handed Derek his berretta and they went separate directions with clear directions to come back as soon as they finished checking the perimeter. Sarah did a general sweep returning faster than him.

She reentered the house and quietly sat opposite the former FBI agent. Ellison didn't say anything; he focused on the sleeping child and the responsibility of her well being. "What exactly happened between John and the girl?"

It was a just a question to distract himself but he had uttered it aloud accidentally.

Sarah rose from the couch not bothering to acknowledge Ellison's question. She approached the entryway, her gaze searching the surrounding landscape. **'Where are you, Reese?' **

She too was having a hard time dealing with the aftermath of Skynet's attempt on their lives and the fact that Derek was still with her. She had not confronted his death and between being caught and John breaking her out and the meeting with Weaver, she hadn't had the time.

But now…she did. Sarah didn't want to admit it even to herself that more than a little bit of her had died when she had thought he'd left her. **'Have you learned nothing. Just how stupid is this, how dangerous is it to fall for another one. You've got to be careful, he'll be worse than Kyle.' **

Her mental reprimanding didn't allow her to leave the doorway and it was there that Derek found her. "What the matter, is it John? A machine?" he asked immediately moving her inside with the bulk of his body.

"What? What are you talking about?" she snapped and redirected her anger from herself to him. "I told you to check the perimeter and come back, where the hell did you go?"

"I didn't go for a stroll, Sarah. I was doing something important." He replied no longer concerned and just as angry. **'What was wrong with the woman? She had no control over her emotions and it was starting to piss him off. Ok, he got that she was upset about John. Hell he was livid but why was she mad at him for?'**

Derek scrutinized her, taking in the disheveled hair and tired face. The eyes that looked like they wanted to cry and the clothing that was hanging a bit more on her athletic frame, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Sarah asked her anger evaporating.

"I don't know but I figured I must have done something." He grinned and she smiled back, a little bit of the old Sarah returning. "Do you think you could move?" He motioned to the lifeless terminator in his arms. "I mean its not like she's all that light and we are trying to keep a low profile remember."

"Yeah, I know. Put her down before you hurt yourself." She commanded making her way back to her seat and away from Derek's alluring comfort. Derek took his cue and entered the room. He grunted and dumped Cameron's body unceremoniously by the sofa and she tipped onto her side.

Derek kicked her lightly and her head hit the floor with a thump, "geez, that 's fucking creepy, you know." He shivered and sat next to Sarah. "So what are we doing here and how are we going to help John?"

"We?" Ellison asked.

"Yeah, I mean we. You are working for a liquid metal bitch, the least you can do is help Sarah get her kid back."

"I had no idea. It fooled me."

Derek didn't care about Ellison's guilt right now, "that's what they're made to do. They're programmed to get close until you don't suspect them and then…" all three pairs of eyes turned to the damaged machine on the floor.

"That doesn't matter now. What matters is what you know up until you met us at Zeiracorp. Did it send you to do anything? Did you have any contact with John or Cameron while I was in prison?" Sarah asked.

Derek under normal circumstances would have never dared to grab her hand in public but the last 72 hours had been anything but normal and Sarah had already been pushed to the breaking point.

Ellison took no notice of the gesture instead he asked a question of his own. "How are you still alive? I saw your body myself."

The soldier let go of Sarah briefly. "I have no idea. All I remember is coming up the side of the garage before I was hit by something. I woke up a few hours later in that room you found me in."

At that precise moment Savannah shifted and her backpack fell onto the floor. Several books fell out along with a pencil case. The case popped open and pencils and crayons skittered all over the floor.

"Wait, what is that?" Derek exclaimed, the discovery moving the spotlight off his miraculous yet unexplained return from the dead. He picked up the case, studying it before removing a slim mechanical pencil. The pencil was shaped oddly at the tip.

"Look," Sarah said taking the pencil from Derek.

She grabbed the cell phone lying next to the sleeping child pointing out the same shape that the pencil tip had. She inserted the tip into the center of the phone. It clicked and a memory card compartment opened near the speaker. "Damm, John would know what to do with this."

"I've seen something similar in a game I played with John Henry." Ellison replied and he instructed Derek and Sarah to look for a laptop or a computer. Inspired Derek grabbed the Turk, inspecting it.

Just as he thought, this TDE was similar to the TDE's from the future. Theirs were bigger but he'd been around enough of them to catch the differences. None of the different models he'd seen ever had slots of any kind and this one was full of them.

He took the card from Sarah and slid it into a slot on the side of the machine.

A projecting light beamed from it. Ellison took the Turk from Derek's hands and positioned on the table, elevating it so the light would display across the turned off television screen like an old film reel.

"Mr. Ellison. I'm very glad to see that you picked up my daughter. I am very pleased you chose to still follow my orders despite knowing what I am."

Catherine Weaver's face smiled awkwardly and she continued in her brisk business tone. "Now, I assume that if you are watching this that Mr. Connor and myself have jumped as scheduled."

"Conniving lying bitch." Sarah cried wanting nothing more than to claw into the liquid face that had manipulated them.

The recording kept going, "John Henry must be protected, Mr. Ellison. He is absolutely integral to stopping what has been deemed Judgment Day…"

"Didn't the John Henry thing leave too?" Derek asked.

Both Ellison and Sarah nodded.

"…he is the way that Skynet would have been had it not evolved as it did. Mr. Connor would have eventually brought it to being but with a heavy toll on humanity and I find I rather enjoy the human race," Catherine said.

"John Henry is very advanced and exists in various forms, his most definite form being the body of the former machine that you called Cromartie. A part of him is still stored in my house's database as a safety measure in case of Zeiracorp being breached before my work was complete."

"I don't understand why go to all this trouble?" Derek asked.

"Ms. Connor, I suggest you help Mr. Ellison reestablish John Henry in a new body until the time, Mr. Connor and I can return. I have taken the liberty of storing Mr. Reese at my company to further aid you."

At this the recording ended. Ellison, Sarah and Derek all sat completely baffled.

"We need to get back into Zeiracorp and into the files stored in that basement." Derek muttered more confused and a bit frightened that this machine had figured out who he was, not to mention that she had been expecting to accompany John.

"Sarah, there is something I need you to know about John." Ellison instantly had the elder Reese and Connor's attention. "I saw John, a few hours prior to your breakout and sent some items to him."

"What did you say to him? What items?"

"I saw him and relayed the message that Catherine wanted to meet him. He refused to go without you but that wasn't unexpected. Weaver sent me to give Cameron a message, something that only she would understand."

"What was the message?" Derek urged impatient with Ellison's hesitation.

"I asked Cameron if she would join us. She told me that I had said enough and told me to leave claiming that I was upsetting John." Ellison paused replaying the odd conversation. "I left but I noticed that it was she that was visibly upset."

"That's not possible, it's a hunk of metal. It can only simulate feelings, it can't really feel them." Derek looked worriedly at Sarah. She had been awful quiet and that was not like her especially when it involved John.

"You said you sent some things to John. What did you send him and who requested they be sent?" she asked.

Ellison squirmed in his seat and Derek suddenly got the feeling that his gun on safety was good for Ellison's health.

"He called me in the middle of the night, John did." Ellison looked between the two relatives unsure who was the most dangerous. "He asked me for new ID's, he said I owed him."

Ellison was now sweating beneath the malevolent twin glares of green eyes. "I sent him ID's, why would he need new ones?" Sarah inquired.

"I know that, he told me the ones you had sent wouldn't serve his purpose. He told me that we would meet at Zeiracorp soon enough and he would explain the necessity only then." Ellison finished a little shaky and glad to have it off his chest.

"What were the names?"

"What?" Ellison looked to Derek in surprise. "I told you the names, didn't I?"

The duo on the couch shook their heads.

"Sarah Rolling. John Randolph and…Cameron Randolph."

"So back to playing brother and sister, huh. I'm sure that would have been fun." Derek remarked bitterly.

"Not brother and sister, Derek. Otherwise I would've had the same last name." Sarah remarked pinning Ellison to his seat with her gaze. "Isn't that right, James?"

Ellison looked miserable but he answered. "John said it would be easier to have the same last name so that nobody questioned it when he introduced her as his wife."

Derek exploded, "his what???"


	4. Right Cameron, Wrong John

**Technically its Wednesday but I got caught up watching Glee and by the time I remembered well it was past 12:00.**

**But here it is. I should have the next chapter up by either Thursday or Friday.**

**Enjoy...**

**_I made a few revisements that will hopefully make it less confusing. Sorry about the choppiness of it, that what I get for posting at 01:00 in the morning. _**

* * *

**Connor Desert Bunker – Undisclosed Location - 2025 – Two weeks earlier.**

"Drop it." He commanded pushing the riffle barrel harder against John Henry's frame. Cameron did as commanded.

It was easier to check John now that she was at his eye level. He shouldered her discarded gun and pointed to the table. "How did you know about this place?"

Cameron sat regarding him curiously, "why are you talking to me this way?"

John Connor had grown quieter and more suspicious in this future, he'd also grown more independent. Cameron frowned, "where are your men? Why are you here alone? It's not safe."

Her body rose and she was so bewildered by the overriding of her own interface that she never got a chance to shout a warning.

________-_______------___ Reboot Neuro Perimeters?____________-------

________-_______------___ Outer Systems Lock Override _____--------

________-_______------___ Inner Systems Lock Override______-----

________-_______Warning!!! -----Neuro Safety Net Activated_____________________-----

OFFLINE IN 3…2…1-----------------------------------------

It had taken a lot longer than he had calculated to overpower Cameron's securities to take back his body but he had never been in such a sophisticated system before.

"Who are you really?" A man asked, John Henry's riffle in hand.

John Henry blinked and extended his hand, "hello. I'm John Henry."

His hand was left hanging in the air for a second before he moved it to his side. He looked at the angry man standing before him. **'This must be the human that his brother wanted to kill.'** "You are older than what I was told. You must be the old John Connor."

Connor tightened the hold on his gun ready to blast if he had to. He didn't betray just how much it hurt to be standing for so long. "Who are you?" he repeated gruffly.

"My name is John Henry. I was built to combat my brother, you know him as Skynet. I was built to help you, to help preserve life."

"I don't need your kind or your help." John muttered spitting at the machine's feet.

John Henry knelt down putting his palm flat on the floor where John had spat. He touched a bit of saliva and rubbed it between thumb and forefinger. "I do not understand what this means." He said rising from the floor, his fingers still coated with John's saliva.

"It means you have less than a second to get out before I add plasma to your chip."

"I have made you angry, I was made aware by Mrs. Connor that you might be upset by my presence but I am not like my brother."

"Who sent you?"

John Henry could see the strain on the man's face but he had not been taught how to calm down a grown man, so he answered. "I was sent by your wife, Ca…"

John Henry got no further as John hitched up the gun and shot John. This particular gun was made and used strictly for interrogating grays. It let out a charge similar to the old police tazers, incapacitation without real damage.

Cameron not being familiar with this future's weapons had picked up a nonlethal gun by accident.

The volley hit the large terminator in the chest with enough voltage to knock him off his feet, hitting the ground with a thump. "Let see who you really are, John Henry."

With some difficulty John kneeled and pulled the needle nose pliers from his waist pocket. He took the knife from his boot and stabbed into the head of the terminator.

John had no idea if what he was doing would be enough to kill this thing but he figured if it was built to mimic humans that it would also share their weaknesses. He was sincerely hoping that it kept all its important software in the same places.

He had only experimented with a few models and with each model came new challenges. He had heard something about a chip from Uncle Bob but those recollections were hazy at best.

As he cut part of the scalp off he was disgusted to find a gooey synthetic that resembled and smelled like real blood on his hands. He swallowed his bile, he didn't want to think how many innocents had died so that this thing could resemble humans inside and out.

He felt around for some sort of opening but it was impossible with the goop on his fingers. He dug the knife deeper and the tip of the boning knife caught on something.

John hurriedly wiped off the blood so he could get a better look. He shoved the tip almost an inch deep and into what looked like the exposed ridge of a skin covered port and came away with a silver cap.

As he cleaned more of the blood off, an inner chamber was revealed, a ring of light peaking through. He grabbed the pliers and carefully began to pull on the catch of a second port cover to hopefully exposing the core.

John was so caught up in extracting the cylinder, now visible,out of the head that he didn't see the hand twitching beside his pants leg. His pliers closed on the handle but slipped on the oily coating of it base. He finally got it and inch by painful inch he pulled it further from its housing.

"Awwww." John howled dropping the cylinder with a squishy plop back into its home. He fell to the floor struggling to untangle the hand pulling at his side. John managed to rip it off but not without tearing his stitches wide open.

He crawled across the floor leaving a bloody trail as he reached for the plasma gun that had skittered when he had fallen. He reached it and fired just as he was lifted. He felt the glancing blow hit the metal head and the warmth blasted his arm. He leaned back and tore the wound further.

The man, the John Henry, now sported a gash of burnt skin and hair up the left side of its head where the glancing blow had been. John attempted to loosen a leg so as to unbalance his attacker. He had managed to hold on to the pliers and he used these to stab them into the neck of the machine. The thing let go of John's legs and they jarred his whole body with the momentum of the unexpected drop.

It froze and John was forced to endure the metal fingers digging further into him. Its face then twitched and the arms flexed softening their hold on him.

The thing procceded to pull the pliers out, confusion written on its features. John saw that the pliers had done little to help his cause. Exhausted from both the burst of adrenaline and blood loss, John could do nothing but lay helplessly in the things arms.

He felt himself be laid down on the cot with a gentleness that confused him. "It's okay, John. I'm here. I'll take care of you," the machine said.

**'****It was a very odd way be taken out,'** was his last conscious thought.

"Just don't leave me and I'll stay with you." The machine pleaded just as John's eyes rolled back and he was out.

"You hurt him." Cameron cried yelling at John Henry.

_**He was going to kill us. He exposed the chip.**_

_**This is not the same John Connor you mentioned.**_

Cameron acknowledged the words scrolling down the viewfinder but she didn't agree. She also needed to patch up John before he lost more blood and slipped away. She gathered the cloth of his shirt and ripped it in half.

"He's had surgery." She muttered ghosting her hand over the barely healed patch of skin just over his heart. "My John never had heart surgery." She said drawing her eyes to scan his body for more damage.

She was glad to see that the only real injuries were the red uneven stitches that were now jagged and bleeding. She pressed down by the side of his ribs to lessen the blood loss. He groaned in pain and her hands flew off him.

"Too much pressure. I am still unused to the strength of this body."

_**He is no ally. He must be **_**terminated**_** and we must return to the past to your John. **_

She placed her hands on his ribs again feeling two bruised and one cracked. "Shut up, I'm scanning his vitals." His heart was beating sluggishly but steadily and his skin was already forming bruises from the struggle with her coltan grip.

_**This one is damaged. Let him die. **_

________-_______------___ Restore System Perimeters?____________

OVERRIDE COMMAND PASSWORD? C******** _____--------

The feet and legs went still first then completely slack which was soon followed by the upper body and then the rest of the body except for the head, which splayed her awkwardly across Connor's wounded body while still being able to see her surroundings.

LOCKING OUT FOREIGN CHIP ____-----CAMERON CONNOR

ACCESSING FOREIGN CHIP___------___ Inner Systems Lock Override______-----

_Warning!!! -----Neuro Safety Net Unauthorized Protocol Activated_______-----_

_**I will not attempt to breach your systems again. I do not wish to harm you. He is not the John Connor you told me about. He is not the one I must protect.**_

_**He is suffering.**_

"Yes, he is but that doesn't mean I can just let him die. It's against my directives. I cannot kill John, my job is to protect him."

_**You are no longer under his command. You can override the protection order. **_

"I know but I won't kill him. I do not know this John or why he is hurt and different from the previous Johns but I can chose not to override my orders. I can and will take care of him. His life is sacred." She whispered.

_**Yes, life is sacred. Especially his but He must be terminated. He is not the General. Your John is. We cannot win if he remains alive. **_

Cameron twisted John Henry's head to the side. Her face was lying on Connor's sternum. John Connor's heart beating steadily right next to her ear.

"Please. I can't. I don't know why he is this way but just let me find out. Give me an hour if he does not respond favorably, I'll kill him myself."

_**Hour starts now-----60:00…59:59…59:58…**_

The motor functions were restored to her loaned body and she was horrified to see how much of it was stained with his blood. Blood that now painted her face. "John just hold on a bit longer."

It was that fear that propelled her off him. While scrubbing at her face she searched the room. Keeping her eye on him while simultaneously scanning for a first aid kit. She had only a few more minutes to reach him. He still had not recovered consciousness and if she didn't hurry, she would have come for nothing.

_**You must hurry.**_

_**Reopen the stitches and clean them thoroughly. The knife on the floor should be suitable for the task.**_

"I could use an eye pencil."

_**A pencil would not be sharp enough for surgery. The knife is a better tool.**_

Cameron located the knife by the foot of the table, "John would have laughed."

She paused at the foot of the bed "do you laugh, John?" she asked looking down at this beaten down version of the boy that she had left behind. "You'll laugh, when I tell you about it. I'll keep my promise."

She retrieved the knife and cleaned it off with her shirt. "I have to sterilize it, he would die of the infection." She scanned the shelves of the bunker again. There, just beneath a metal box hidden in the shadows was the desired white box with a familiar red cross insignia.

She pulled it off the shelf, happy at its obvious heaviness.

It was stocked with everything necessary to clean and suture John. She smirked, "you were always good with supplies, John."

She took out a packet and after ascertaining that it was rubbing alcohol, she tore it and shook out the towlette. It was with lightning precision that she took off what remained of the ruptured stitches. Cleansed the wound and re-stitched him neatly and in a much tighter pattern.

"These should be enough."

"Get away from me." He rasped coming to and clumsily shoving himself closer to the wall and far away from her. His face contorted in pain and he doubled over and onto his side.

She kneeled on the bed, "you need to go to a medical facility. This is too dangerous for you. You must look after yourself better. Sarah would be upset if she knew you were risking yourself this way."

John had only had a handful of experiences with these things.

Most of them bad, with the exception of Uncle Bob and the one named, Marcus Wright. Once the pain was bearable he uncurled and took a quick look down his chest. His gaze lingered on the fresh set of stitches. "Why did you…"

"I care about you, John."

"Why? I don't know you. I have never met you." He noted the sad expression and he felt the rage roll off him and be replaced with a bone deep weariness.

Cameron shrugged John Henry's shoulders, "not in this time so you must have met, Marcus Wright."

In spite of his misgivings this thing was obviously friendly enough with him to know about Marcus. He went with his instincts to at least hear the thing out. After all Marcus Wright or what had once been Marcus Wright, had saved his life. He'd protected Kyle and his existence as well as giving up his own heart so that John could continue the fight.

"You mentioned a Sarah." John looked down at the dried blood that coated his abdomen. "Is it my mother, Sarah?"

"Yes, she was meeting a Catherine Weaver, who owns a research company named Zeiracorp. She was trying to postpone Judgment Day." Cameron responded.

"I've never heard of either one of those." John rubbed his eyes, "postponed. Not stopped." He looked resigned.

Cameron's or rather John Henry's features morphed into a sorrowful look. "It cannot be stopped, it is inevitable, I'm sorry."

Without thinking she put her hand on top off his. He ripped it out from beneath hers, "I'm sorry." Cameron grinned. "I forget that I'm in this body. You normally don't mind when I touch you."

John actually blushed. The machine grinned again.

He sat up carefully preparing to ask what had been bothering him since it had appeared. "Who are you and what are you to me?" he made a motion to scoot off the bed but she stopped him."I've heard your name before but only in passing."

"You have?" She tilted her head in thought, "you'll pull the stitches out. What did you want to get?"

He eyed her skeptically but being that he couldn't really move, he figured he should take advantage of it. "The metal box by the com unit."

She yanked out the box she had spotted earlier and handed it to him. "Here."

John opened it removing several tapes. "These are recordings from my mother. She mentions someone named Cameron. I assumed that you were him."

Cameron laughed, "no. Cameron is a girl. I am a girl."

John hobbled off the bed ignoring Cameron's protests. "I found this about a month ago." He went past the sphere of light thrown by the lamp. She could hear him moving around the darkened corner. He grunted and Cameron got up to help.

She almost got the lamp but she knew that whatever it was she could just drag into the light for him. "Just tell me where it is, I'll do the rest."

He pointed to a sheet-covered thing propped up against the wall. She picked it up and easily deposited it on the table.

**'****Had Sarah----?'**

"How long has this been here?" she asked.

John grimaced and leaned on the table. "I got to this bunker about two months ago, I left Century right after my…" he stopped.

"After?"

"I came and found it sitting at the table. It kinda looked like a big doll so I just covered it and put it away, but I didn't know what it did or how to even turn it on. Its the most advanced model I've ever seen."

She nodded in confirmation of being the most advanced model and then yanked the sheet off, revealing the body of what looked like a pretty sixteen year old girl. The long brown hair was pulled back. The face was flawless and no sign of the jailbreak marred any of the body or clothing.

"Is this Cameron?" John asked.

"Yes, this is my actual form." Cameron noticed that his hand strayed to her hair. "I will tell you everything you need to know but I need your help."

John looked at her suspiciously, "help you do what?" He asked hastily removing himself away from the machines and sitting back on the bed.

"I need you to put my chip back in my body."


	5. Together Again

**Technically it is Late Thursday/Friday. I never said which Thursday or Friday (dodges pieces of scrap metal)**

**I've no excuse. I am determined to not let this or my other stories languish.**

**Here goes nothing...enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

**2005 – Catherine Weaver's Home – New Connor/Reese Base**

Derek exploded, "his what?"

"Derek!" Sarah shouted attempting to drag the enraged man back to the sofa and away from Cameron's helpless form.

"The bitch, I can't fucking believe it." He pulled his gun and pointed it directly at Cameron head. "How can you sit there so calmly?" Derek shouted, "did you hear what he just said? John wanted to parade this piece of metal shit as his wife…Sarah. His wife for fuck's sake!"

"I heard but now is not the ti-"

"Not the time? Are you serious? When then? When he comes back from the future? What if he doesn't come back because of her?" Derek asked desperately trying to hold on and not break down further and truly frighten Sarah.

"Derek, shut up before you wake..."

"Mr. Ellison? Is something wrong." Savannah's teary question broke through the haze. "Why is he shouting?" the little girl shot Derek a scared look before burrowing into Ellison's suit clad shoulder.

"Savannah?" Sarah knelt down and softly squeezed the little girl's hand. "Hi, I'm Sarah and this is Derek. He is just a little scared, that's why he shouted."

Derek snorted but put away his gun. Sarah ignored him, her gaze focused on the red-head. "Are you hungry?" she asked softly.

Savannah nodded hesitantly.

"Well, I'm a bit hungry too. How about you show me where your kitchen is and maybe we can make a couple of sandwiches and give my friend a chance to talk to Mr. Ellison. You can tell me all about your ballet school, how does that sound?"

Savannah released Ellison and scooted off the couch and took Sarah's hand. "The kitchen is this way. Mommy used to make cookies with me before daddy died."

"I've never made cookies. My son likes chocolate chip, what's your favorite?" Sarah asked guiding the little girl out of the room.

Neither Derek or James heard the girl's response. Ellison looked warily at Derek but the man's tirade had been exhausted in the wake of the little girl's fear. "I'm sorry, I had no choice but to give him what he wanted."

"I know. I just don't like it and it makes me sick…he's the only-I feel responsible for him and it kills her to have to hear about it and him."

"What is your relationship to John and Sarah?" James asked clearly seeing that the former resistance soldier was heavily invested in the lives of the Connors. He'd have to be to be saved by Weaver. Derek's back tensed and he let loose a string of curse words. "Derek, if we are to work together, I need to know what is going on. I still have no real clue as to how this whole time jumping thing works."

"Its complicated and I've gone through it." Derek sighed and paced back and forth. "John Connor is my nephew. My brother, Kyle Reese was his father. I was sent back by Future John to protect his mother and ensure her survival past Judgment Day."

"Is that why you're so close to her and she to you? What's the exact relationship-"

Derek spun on his heel and pinned the former FBI man against the wall. Pressing his favorite gun against Ellison's jugular. His hand covered the man's mouth, "let me remind you that you are alive by my very good will. Sarah may think you can help us but I will not hesitate to put a bullet in you if I think we don't need you."

Ellison's dark brown gaze assessed Derek's green one and realized the man was telling the truth. He raised his hands in surrender.

Derek cocked the safety but didn't release him, "you took Cromartie's body and worked for a liquid metal thing claiming you didn't know. I will overlook all this because you have been helpful so far but don't think what I just told you means that I trust you or that Sarah trusts you. Don't mistake her being here as a weakness. We only want John back and could care less about you or your job."

"I understand." Derek removed the gun and stepped away from Ellison just as Savannah and Sarah came back in bearing a large plate of sandwiches. Sarah didn't miss Ellison rubbing his neck nor Derek's hand coming from behind his waistband.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. Just talking about possible ways to get what we need to fix Cameron's body and get back into Zeiracorp." Ellison said reaching for a sandwich.

Sarah shot a question glance at Derek but he just grabbed a sandwich and shoved half of it in his mouth. "I guess we should eat then," she said.

They ate quickly and with little conversation. Ellison noticed that Derek would sneak a glance at Sarah every now and then. Sarah had barely eaten anything and it was only after Derek nudged her several times, did she finally take several irritated bites. Satisfied he left her alone but not before taking several sandwiches with him to roam the rest of the house.

Sarah for her part remained ignorant of his intent regard but she did lean up against him when he returned from wherever he had gone.

Now that the fatigue of the day had begun to affect them, Ellison saw how much John's disappearance had wounded his family. "I'll help Savannah get ready for bed and then we'll figure out how to get the TDE working tomorrow morning." Ellison said carrying the small girl up a set of stairs that neither of them had noticed before. "I suggest you two go to sleep as well, it will take a while to sort through everything that wasn't damaged in the explosion."

Ellison soon was gone leaving the two adults to contemplate what was in store for a pair of fugitives and a broken machine. Sarah fought the sleep as long as she could but even she had to admit that it be better if they could look at everything with fresh and less emotional eyes. The days events had left them all wired and rest would be the only remedy to regain a clear mind.

"Derek, I need you..." Sarah paused gaining Derek's full attention, "...to do me a favor." Sarah never ever asked for anything and this was uncertain territory for them both but their sanity was at a breaking point and it would surely snap if they didn't talk about it.

"O.K."

"You can't react that way every time that Cameron is mentioned." She put a hand up to stop his protest, "I know that its wrong but I just can't handle your outbursts on top of everything else, it's just too much right now. John made his choice and for better or worse there is nothing we can do. Getting angry and shooting Cameron will not help."

"Sarah." Derek had seriously hoped that she hadn't seen the new bullet holes in Cameron's body.

"I need you to be helpful in whatever way you can. I need to restore her body to what John and I encountered. Catherine Weaver said that John Henry exists in another form here in her house. It will be much easier if we can find a way to install his data in Cameron's body and it will be difficult enough to clean her up without you adding further damage."

"You want to fix that thing?" he pointed to the still terminator.

"Yes, it will be less of a hassle then trying to carry around whatever makes up this John Henry thing. Besides it wouldn't hurt to have a terminator to take on whatever may come after us. Regardless of whatever we think, she did take more than a few bullets for me and you."

She leaned back as if the talk had drained her and in a way it had. She didn't want to think about John and Cameron anymore. Helping Savannah had only made her miss her son that much more. Sarah just wanted her son back and she knew that fixing both Cameron and finding John Henry would be the key to that and she would need to rely on Derek for that.

"Ok, I'll do it for John," he pulled her body so that it leaned completely up against his. She felt him kiss her forehead and whisper, "and for you."

"Thank you."

She sighed and in an uncharacteristic show of dependence, Sarah snuggled into his arms. Derek slipped an arm beneath her legs and lifted her off the couch. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let herself be carried up the way Ellison had gone earlier. They passed a child's room where Ellison was reading to a gently sleeping Savannah.

Ellison looked up, "there's two guest bedrooms next door."

Derek lifted Sarah a little higher, a tiny alarm went off at how light she was but he refused to dwell on it. Tomorrow they would see everything with a hopefully more positive outlook.

He shoved one of the doors opened and laid her down on the massive bed. Her frame looked so much smaller and it broke him to admit that she was really dying. "Stop gawking and lay down, Reese."

"Yes, ma'am." He mocked saluted and without even bothering to undo his boots laid down beside her. He wrapped his arm around her and she settled deeper into his embrace.

"Derek, stop thinking and relax. Sleep…for me." He pressed one last kiss to her hair and followed her order.

Ellison watched from the doorway for only a second before he too retired back down the stairs. He sat down in front of the blank T.V. and activated the second disc he had found in Savannah's room.

"Mr. Ellison. I am glad that I could trust you to be discreet. I assume that you are alone."

Ellison said nothing and Catherine Weaver continued as if he had confirmed he was. "I have several schematics and manuals to help you retrieve part of John Henry from my security feeds. You will need some help as neither Ms. Connor or Mr. Reese are as proficient with technology as Mr. Connor. I suggest you get the safety deposit box that I have left for you. You will need what is inside."

The woman on the screen looked at the screen very intently, her hard haze burning into James Ellison's wary one. "You will also need to get a gentleman named Eric Michaels. He can be found at the library…" She looked at her watch, "in precisely one hour."

Catherine Weaver looked back up, "hurry Mr. Ellison. You have a limited window before I return with Mr. Connor."


	6. Right John

**Look another chapter. Bet you're surprised.  
**

**Clearly I'm trying to get into your guy's good graces. Is it working?**

**Anyhoo...here it is.**

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**10 Miles from Serrano Point – Resistance Base #4 – 2 Wks Earlier.**

"Hey Connor, welcome back. Enjoy your nap?"

"Wha…at?"

"Get up. Recovery time is over." John was roughly hauled to his feet. He swayed a bit but managed to stand up without embarrassing himself further.

"I'm sorry. I fell asleep and I lost-"

Derek glared at him. "Look, kid I don't care. Reese wanted to talk to you an hour ago and by his books you're in deep shit. So can the chitchat, finish dressing and report, got me?"

John would have responded but Derek was already half out the door.

He was sweating profusely by the time he finished buttoning his shirt. It had taken him a lot longer than they no doubt wanted but his injury had his left arm tightly wrapped and immobile and in this future, pain medication was obviously scarce.

He grabbed the remaining piece of bread and shouldered the door open. "I don't recall you being this slow, Connor."

John's face broke into a smile, "Bedell. Nice of you to stop by."

"Yeah, well. Reese is getting impatient. Lucky for you he likes me otherwise you'd be getting an earful for leaving him waiting."

"It wasn't my intention. I guess I was more tired than I had thought."

"John, you have a big problem. There is a lot of talk about what a miracle it was that you survived that hit and the new models." Martin leaned closer, "I know that you are pretty used to this…fighting and more advanced models but people talk and if the wrong people hear, well you wouldn't want that."

"Who exactly should I worry about? Lt. Reese?" John asked.

It was still weird to think that his father and uncle were still alive. It was harder to believe that they didn't trust him.

Martin shook his head, "no. General Robert Rydex. He's the head of the Resistance. Let's just say it be better if he didn't hear the reverent way in which Allison Young has been talking about you."

"Don't tell me." John groaned.** '****Figures, it be the one I don't want that likes me.'**

Martin chuckled lightly, "don't worry man, she likes everybody at one point or another. It's almost like a rite of passage around here."

"Thanks a lot." John replied some of his earlier sarcasm returning. He must be adapting if he could be at ease enough to be annoyed. "So I take it you're here to take me to Lt. Reese then?"

"Yeah, let's go. I don't want to be on the crap list too."

John fell into step beside Martin but soon began walking slightly behind him as the tunnels narrowed and walking alongside him became impossible. "So how come you're the only one who remembers me?"

Martin looked serious for the first time since John had encountered him. "I could never forget those few days at the academy or what you and Reese did for me. You saved my life and I never got a chance to thank you."

"No thanks needed." John sighed, "trust me, you repay the favor big time."

"Did I die well?"

"You saved 40 of us from Century." John replied almost falling back into his old custom of putting his hands in his pockets until he attempted to move his arm and remembered that he was still hurt.

Martin continued. "When the bombs fell I knew that you had not been some crackpot kid. I began to try to find out what I could about you but you had disappeared. Your trail went no further than 2005. I remembered what you had said about time jumping." Martin mimicked John's earlier attempted posture, "I figured you had done just that and it was just a matter of time, excuse the pun, until you popped up in the future."

"How did you end up here with Derek?"

"I was originally in Nevada when everything went down. I volunteered for a mission to Century to get some of our men out. We lost almost everybody to the machines," Martin stopped, looked at John and shuddered. "They were experimenting on survivors and testing machines. It was all done to make them be able to pass for a human, to get closer and be able to kill us better. It was-"

"You found Derek there?" John asked ripping Martin from his gruesome recollections.

"Yeah. I was freaked especially when I lost sight of everyone I had come with but once I saw a familiar face, I was able to help. At first I had no idea how to fight these things and they seemed much worse than what we had seen in Laughlin. Luckily most of the security drones were prototypes."

"So they're behind." John mumbled.

"I was so proud that I had been able to take one out by myself that I ran straight to Derek." Martin looked sad but smiled, "he asked me where I had learned that. That was when I realized he wasn't the same Derek. It was by pure chance that we later stumbled onto some prisoners, included among them Kyle Reese."

"Kyle?"

"Yeah, Kyle was there and with his help we released the rest. He was the one that led us out of that hellhole. Laughlin picked us up and then we got moved here and they were debriefed. Since Canyon was considered the most experienced base and the Reese brothers were the only survivors, Rydex made them his right hand men."

"Who is Rydex, I've never heard of him." John said searching his mind for any mention of the man from the many conversations he'd had with Cameron and Derek.

"He came from the Fox Glen and stayed briefly at Serrano Point before being sent here. Nobody really knows anything else about him before that and since communication between bases is practically suicidal…well it's just his word, like most of us."

"Don't you have radio communication?" John asked seriously concerned about the lack of coordination and assistance that each base could give each other.

"I'm too low to know but I assume not. It's need to know about any weapons or advantages this base could have. Trust is not a high priority, unfortunately."

"I'm glad for a friendly face at least." John said. The rest of the way was spent in silence and it made John wonder if he would get used to the secrecy only when he got older.

"We're here." Martin waved at the door, wished him luck and left back the way they had come.

John didn't bother to knock. They already didn't trust him and there was no way he was going to act like he was afraid anymore. Every lesson his mother had taught him played through his mind and he straightened and entered as if he owned the place.

He saluted the men at the table and he was very proud of the fact that he had not winced at all.

"Connor, isn't it? How's the wound?"

"Yes, Sir. Healing, Sir." Already John knew that he didn't like General Rydex. He reminded him of a car salesman, friendly in an oily kind of way. He would have to watch what he divulged.

"No need to stand on ceremony. Have a seat son."

John sat in the only place available. A chair directly in front of a table which had General Rydex sitting opposite of John with Kyle and Derek on either side of him. It made him feel like either he was interviewing for some position he hadn't known he had applied for or that he was being court marshaled.

He remained quiet, waiting and studying them the way Derek had told him to when he had first taught John about Poker and finding his opponent's tells.

Rydex was clearly not a poker player for he splayed his hand and his tell right away, he curled his fists briefly and then leaned on the table. "I just heard about you very interesting arrival here at our base a few weeks ago."

He smiled in an attempt to be genial instead it came off as predatory. "I had meant to let you get accustomed to our ways here before I asked about it but given your near death experience several days ago, well let's just say it increased my curiosity. I hope you don't mind that I dragged you out of your sick bed."

John resisted the urge to shift in the hard chair especially since the position was making his arm throb. "Not at all, General. I'd be happy to inform you."

**'****You self serving lying weasel.'**

Rydex shifted a few papers and smiled again, "let's start with how you got here, shall we? Son."

"Time travel," John said simply.

"Really, from what time?" Rydex said his hands no longer welcoming.

"2005."

"That's a lot of time to travel through, mind if I ask what you came for?"

"My wife, she jumped ahead of me," John replied.

"Did she? Must be some woman." He said with a tight smile to Kyle, who remained looking at John in a strange way. It wasn't so much suspicion as it was curiosity.

"You have no idea." John muttered beneath his breath.

"What was that?" Rydex asked his face becoming more strained with the effort to keep the fake smile in place.

"That she is, Sir." John smiled back.

"Apparently, we have a bit of an imagination, don't we Mr. Connor." Rydex dropped the smile and rose from the table.

"Never been accused of that, Sir."

"Mr. Connor. I don't think I have to tell you how serious your situation is. You came to a highly secure base with nothing but your skin and an insane story of time travel. I have a high sense of humor but I find traitors less than funny."

John raised an eyebrow but remained mute.

"Now unless you want to find yourself in a heap of trouble, I suggest you tell me the truth and tell me who you're working for and why you chose my base…otherwise."

"I have. You found me by myself because that's how I departed. No other living being came with me." John could feel his control slipping.

There was no way he was going to tell this idiot about Catherine Weaver or anything else that had to do with his real objective. No doubt that he would order Cameron a thermite bath and a shot to the head for him.

John had no illusion to what the man believed him to be but he was not about to jeopardize finding Cam to prove his innocence to this moron.

"I don't think he's going to say anything further, Sir." Kyle said thoughtfully, "perhaps if we left him to his own devices we can gain a better a idea as to how he came to be here."

Rydex took to the idea like a dog to a bone. "Excellent idea, Lt. we don't want to waste any more time on this time travel nonsense."

He turned to his left and addressed Derek, "how about we take him to the northern bunkers. Perhaps there he can think better without all the ruckus of the heavily trafficked tunnels."

Kyle looked like he wanted to protest but a look of warning from Derek silenced any objection he would have made.

"Excellent. See that he is situated right away. It was interesting to have met you, Mr. Connor. I don't doubt that you will be more talkative once you see your new accommodations."

John stood but refused to give Rydex a salute. The man glared daggers at him and left the room. John sat back down this time letting the fatigue show. "So where are you going to torture me exactly?"

"Who said anything about torture?" Kyle asked alarm spreading across his young face.

"He thinks I'm a gray. Torture is what is done to grays." John rubbed his arm.

"Are you in pain?" Derek asked surprising both Kyle and John. "What? I'm not heartless, Kyle." Derek said exasperated at the look of shock on his younger brother's face. "He's just a kid, I don't actually think he's a gray."

"What are we going to do about Rydex?" Kyle asked.

John sat dumbfounded, his eyes traveling back and forth between his father and uncle. "Hi John, still here," he waved. "Want to let me know what's going to happen to me?"

Derek explained, "here's the deal. We all know that Rydex is a couple terminators short of a factory but he's still the boss and that means we have to follow orders for the meantime."

"We can't put him down there." Kyle interrupted.

"I know but if Rydex finds out we disobeyed, everything we've been working for the last five years will be for nothing. We have too many people counting on us to throw it away for some stupid kid we don't know, no offense."

"None taken." John replied. He was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was actually happening to be offended. He briefly thought that he was still asleep and this was a dream. "So how about stupid kid goes wherever Rydex thinks he's going and you two actually take me somewhere else."

"Can't. Rydex is too paranoid. He'll come check on you." Kyle answered.

"Then take me there for real."

"You don't want that. Trust me." Derek replied.

"I take it you've been?"

"We both have, John. We can't take that risk especially with you still recovering," Kyle moved from around the table and sat on the front of it, his green eyes riveted on John. "You told the truth earlier, didn't you?"

John grinned, "yeah."

"What's her name?" Derek asked joining his brother.

"Cameron."

"She pretty?" They both asked simultaneously.

John looked down for a moment. His eyes suddenly burned and his throat clogged with emotion. Here he was being asked a simple question but the fact that it was these two very people that asked it made it so hard to answer.

He had never known his father enough to miss the person. What he had missed was the idea of him and now he was right in front of him.

With Derek it had been doubly hard because his hatred was for the very person that John loved the most. It had caused a rift that had taken months to bridge and when it was finally within reach the man had been violently ripped out of his life. Now here he was again before John having been plopped back into his life just as violently.

"She's perfect." John finally said.

Kyle glanced at Derek and said, "John, I'm sure you'll find her."

"Yeah, then before you know it, you'll want to lose her again." Derek joked clapping John hard on the shoulder.

**'****Typical Derek.'** John grimaced but took it for what it was. His family comforting him, even if they didn't know they were.

"I'm not worried. Thanks just the same." He wiped his eyes surreptitiously and announced, "I'll help you with Rydex. I'm sure we can come up with a good story for me being here but you have to help me in return."

For some reason both men stood ready to hear his terms. John had never been able to picture himself as a leader but seeing them so willing to listen, well it gave him a confidence in himself that he'd been sorely lacking. **'Now I just need to locate Weaver.'**

"We'll try." Derek bargained.

"Deal, what I need shouldn't be too difficult to get." John said rising from the stiff chair and walking around the room to shake the tension off his body.

"Beside the obvious why are you so ready to help?" Kyle asked curiously.

John's pacing had been halted by the question so that he had stopped mid stride and faced the door. "My mother always said family should stick together no matter the sacrifice."

In that instant the door opened and in came Allison. Her downcast expression left no room for a clarification of John's statement.

"Lt. Reese and Lt. Reese. He is to go to the northern bunkers and remain there until further notice." She pressed a set of keys into Kyle's hand.

His father came towards him and that was all John saw just before the darkness swallowed him.


	7. Cameron, No Longer John Henry

**I know its been forever. Sadly I was going through some very heavy financial difficulties and I was a little depressed.**

**I'm okay now and hope to bring this story back on track. I'm so terribly sorry for the wait.**

**Enjoy...**

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**Connor Desert Bunker – Undisclosed Location - 2025 – Two weeks earlier.**

"Why?"

"My body," Cameron pointed at the body, "this was damaged back in my time. I jumped to this time to find a means of restoring it to better assist you in the past."

"It doesn't look damaged." John inspected the surprisingly heavy girl.

"The problem is the hardware. I had pistons that were bent beyond their capabilities, those are just some of the problems. There are more." Cameron scanned the body, "your mother and Derek bent them back but they are weakened. I need a new body to better fulfill my mission."

John ran a hand over his cropped hair. "None of what you say makes sense. I don't know you and I have no idea who this Derek person is. You keep mentioning some mission but all I know for sure is that you are the most sophisticated model I've ever encountered. How do I know you're not here to sabotage me?"

"You can't. I can tell you that my mission is you. I am to protect and care for you. I am to ensure that you live and that you lead humanity to the end of the machine wars. I am meant to help you in any way possible even if I must self-terminate." Cameron shook John Henry's head, "I cannot do my job until you learn about my systems. I am not controlled by anything but my own chip. I cannot revert back, you made sure of that."

"How did I do that?" You say this is your body than what owns the one you're in?"

Cameron could tell that this John was more impatient and hostile. She would have to convince him to help but she was running out of time.

…**45:23…45:22… **scrolled across her vision.

"This is John Henry's body but he is allowing me the use of it. I could not come through otherwise. Please John, I will tell you everything you want to know but I need you to trust me."

John slowly began to rise from the bed, "I don't trust anybody but I want to know what the hell is going on and this if this is the only way, then I'll do it."

It was a hollow victory but Cameron would take it. "I'll talk you through it."

He nodded and gingerly pulled the chair closer to the side of the table where her head rested and sat. "Once my chip is out, John Henry will take over his own body. It takes 120 seconds to reboot."

He held out his hand and she handed him the pliers. "What happens after 120 seconds?"

"If I don't recover, use this." Cameron as John Henry pulled out a container from behind the tarp that had covered her.

"What is this?"

"It's thermite. It's the only thing that kills us. My body must be destroyed, pour it over my body and throw a match. Instant barbecue." John looked at her oddly but took the canister, placing it by his booted heel and out of the way. Cameron sat right across from John and dipped John Henry's head toward the inactive terminator.

He brought up his hand and pointed at the torn scalp that John had gauged earlier. "Do exactly what you did before. Cut through the scalp and pull the port covering. My body had three safety nets."

John took out the boning knife and stuck it deep in the side of Cameron's head. John Henry winced but Connor just dug deeper, shoving aside strands of hair until he heard a thud. "Now cut a half circle clockwise and gently lift the flap."

John did as instructed, cutting a clean half moon into her head. "You should see a heavy covering and then after that another port with a raised edge. You will need the pliers to successfully open the last chamber and drop in my chip. Once you do that my system should reengage and I should be online in two minutes."

"Fine." John roughly pulled John Henry's head towards him and flipped open the flap of skin he'd butchered earlier. Using the pliers he dove them into the opening and yanked out the chip in on swift moment.

The table groaned as John Henry's full weight fell on it.

John shoved the body to the floor uncaring as it fell in heap. He was however much more gentle when he lifted the carefully cut piece of scalp on Cameron's head. He opened the ports as he'd been told and inserted her chip into her head. He twisted and replaced all the covers and softly but firmly pressed down on the loose skin.

He finger combed her hair making sure to completely cover the ugly cut. He should have moved back to the bed since his side was beginning to throb but he couldn't stop himself from caressing her pretty face, unconsciously mimicking the actions of the previous John and every John before that.

He counted down the two minutes but the machine, she, remained still. John Henry had gotten up and was once more sitting at the table. Both John's stared intently at the female.

He had no idea why her waking up was so important to him all out of a sudden.

"It has been 123.4 seconds. She should already be operational. She is broken, you have to dispose of the body."

For some reason John found that he couldn't do it. He couldn't hurt her anymore that when he had fought Uncle Bob at the Skynet facility and that had almost killed him. Marcus had saved him then and he never been able to repay the favor, maybe that was the reason for the instant attachment. **'It couldn't be anything else.'**

The excuse seemed forced even to him. There was something about her that tugged at him, like a half remembered dream. She was important somehow.

Whatever the reason for his sudden soft spot, he wanted to speak to this Cameron person. His instincts were telling him that she held the key to everything his mother had ever taught him about beating Skynet. And his instincts had yet to be wrong.

The time dragged and she still didn't move. John remained seated staring at her, willing her to respond, to wake.

"She has to be destroyed." John Henry repeated but John wasn't listening, her fingers twitched once, twice then her whole hand moved.

Cameron turned her head and with those same fingers reached out to him, "What's your name?"

He shook the hand gingerly, clearly confused by her behavior, "John."

"Cameron…Cameron Connor."

"Connor?"

Cameron sat up and swung her legs so they dangled on either side of him, "I've come forward in time to save my husband, John Connor."


	8. Needed Conversation

I'm back people. I am determined to finish it. Sorry to have left it hanging for so long. John refused to cooperate and Derek had a fight with Cameron and then Charlie got involved...it was a mess.

Enjoy!

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"But I'm John Connor."

"Yes, you are but you aren't my John."

"Your? but you're a machine, you can't be…he cant...I can't. He didn't-" he stopped abruptly.

"Yes I can." She saw how he tried to push her legs away from him awkwardly. A quick scan showed her that he was more fragile than he let on. "You need to lie down, John."

"Don't. I can do it myself."

"We all need a little help." Cameron replied.

"Not me, not from you." He pushed from the table careful not to touch the legs surrounding him. "My wife died along with my child. I have no other." John was now sweating profusely in an effort to get around her. "I will never have another, she was everything."

"I'm truly sorry for your loss." Cameron replied and hopped off the table. "Katherine was always good to me." She lifted up the protesting man and laid him gently on the bed. "And she would not have wanted me to stand by and watch you hurt yourself."

She moved her arm around but she could still feel stiffness. Still she was glad that Sarah and Derek had seen fit to fix her. Even the bullet holes had been patched up nicely. She would thank them.

"What happened to you?" John asked pointing at her twitching arm.

"I was in an explosion," she saw his questioning look, "it was meant for you. It was set by somebody we we're chasing-"

"Who is we?"

"Sarah, Derek, John and myself."

"How old was I?" John asked.

"You were fifteen. We were chasing a man named Sarkissian. He was rumored to possess the Turk. He planted a bomb and I was caught in the blast on your sixteenth birthday."

"Was anybody hurt?"

The way he said it made her look at him. He was so different from her John. To him she really was a machine. "I was hurt."

John blinked at her, "but you're repairable."

"I am but it was still painful. I can feel just like you." She said quietly.

"You can't feel like me."

"Do I need to show you that I can?" she trailed her hand on the edge of the frame and onto his calf. He watched as it climbed up and over his knee. "Doesn't my hand feel warm? Don't I feel like real skin?"

He pushed her hand off him, "doesn't make you human. I don't have time for these games, you said if I helped you, that you would tell me who you are and why my mother talked about you."

"Have you eaten?" she asked.

"No, are you gonna tell me what I want to know?"

Cameron looked at John Henry and made a shooing motion.

"You have 36.28 minutes."

Once John Henry left Cameron turned to the remaining John. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Would you like me to? Are you ordering me to, John?"

The man ran a heavy hand over his face, "tell me about this Turk."

"The Turk is the earliest version of Skynet but some of its components also make up the TDE machine." Cameron paused, "you know about the TDE machine?"

"I wasn't involved with the making of it. It was already in place when I used it the first time, but I am aware of its function. Get on with it."

Cameron sat on the bed careful to stay on the corner and at a safe distance. "The Turk was the early brain of the Skynet Defense System. It started out as Chess playing computer and it was invented by a man named Andy Goode."

"Never heard of him, either."

"You wouldn't have. He changed his name out of guilt."

"So what happened?"

"A resistance soldier and your uncle, Derek Reese, went back in time, found him and killed him before he could finish building it."

"Uncle?"

"He is the last of your family. He died in the raid at Catherine Weaver's house. I'm sorry for that as well."

"Just like that?"

"Yes but it changed nothing. Judgment Day-"

"Cannot be stopped." The both said at the same time.

She smiled and he turned away feeling that he shouldn't want to smile back with Kate less than a week in the ground.

She saw his downcast expression and kept going. Talking about something else always helped when John was sad. "After that we lost the Turk. It was stolen from Andy prior to his death and sold. We chased down several leads but they were false. Eventually we stumbled on to it in Catherine Weaver's office, she was a T-1000 that was asked to join the resistance in my original timeline."

John leaned forward, "tell me about you. What are you? Why were you made?"

"I was born in 2033. I infiltrated and met you in 2034, you didn't trust me then either. In 2030 there was information leaked that you had found a way to disrupt the time stream. Your father is younger than you due to this technology."

"I know this already."

"Be patient. This is important. Skynet realized that sending terminators after you before you were Connor wasn't feasible. You had protection placed for that scenario. Skynet concluded that John Connor could only be beaten by John Connor."

"What does that mean?"

"You have a great weakness for the well being of others." Cameron put her hand on his chest right above the scar. "You did not have this in my time past or future."

"A friend gave his life for me. Caring about people," he enunciated the word, "is strength not a weakness. If you were human, you would know that."

"The greatest betrayers of my time were human. That is why I was modeled after one." He didn't push her hand away and she removed it slowly. "That is your weakness as well. You are a lonely individual."

"I had my wife."

"I am your wife, when she is away. And she is away most of the time."

"Why?"

Cameron looked away for a moment and he thought about whether or not his words had the power to hurt her even though he wasn't her John. **'Would she still take offense? Could she?'**

He had no idea that at the same moment that he was pondering that, she was wondering how to spare him the pain that his marriage to Kate was rarely real and that was the main reason she had moved into his bed.** 'How much would it hurt him if I told that his Kate was unfaithful and that he didn't care at all?'**

Judging from his haggard and morose disposition, she could assume that in this time, their marriage had been real. It would hurt him and her by proxy. His pain had always been hers and his well being was still her job.

"But she was with me. You yourself mentioned knowing her."

Cameron didn't want to dwell on that, she couldn't really be jealous if he wasn't her John."Yes, I did know her. I have met her and befriended her and watched her die over a dozen times."

"Did you ever kill her?" Moving faster than she could have predicted his hand reached his gun and pressed it to her forehead.

If she squinted she could see the barrel that was flat against it. Instead she looked at him steadily until the gun shook a little.

She wanted to remove it and comfort him but he was too far gone from her. He would not appreciate her touch or soft words. "I have never had to. She is just a way to make you more vulnerable but she is not your downfall."

John put the gun down but kept it trained on her, though he knew that if she wanted to kill him, she would. He could tell that much. It…she apparently cared enough about who he was to not injure him further.

"You said you know my mother."

"I knew that she loved you."

"Why did she mention you?" John clicked on the safety.

"Your mother spoke about me because my existence makes or breaks the resistance. I have become the reason you have succeeded and failed. I have become your weakness and strength."

"What are you to me?"

"To you, nothing. To the Johns before you, I have been many things; slave, servant, weapon, confidant, escape, sacrifice."

"What will you be to me?"

"Peace."

"How?"

"That depends on whether you decide to trust me."

He looked at her then he looked at his gun and finally around the room. He couldn't do this alone and he found that he didn't want to. He didn't want the machines to win. He didn't want Kate's and his unborn child's death to have been in vain. He wanted payback.

"I'll try."

"That's all you can do." She stood and removed her dirt and traveled caked clothes. "I am here for you. I will always be here for you," she said and climbed into the bed with him.

"Why now, why not before?"

"This was the time, I was told to be in."

"Am I ever happy with her?" he asked lying down so she could crawl over him.

"You were happy with Kate, she gave you children, three boys."

"Thank you, Cameron."

"I will always do what you need John. I love you."

Twenty minutes later, Cameron came out of the bunker armed and fully dressed.

"You have terminated him."

"Yes, John Connor had to be put to rest so that John Connor may live."

"Was it difficult?" John Henry asked.

"No, he was already dead." Cameron replied.

Cameron and John Henry placed explosives inside the tunnel and all down the length of it. She took the remainder and placed them right on the door where this timeline's John now rested. "You were happy with me too, I gave you a daughter."

"Three minutes and we jump back." John Henry replied ignorant of Cameron's turmoil.

"Yes, I got what I needed. We can go home."

The two terminators stepped out into the night air. The sky was dark but the sky was always dark in this time. "Set it."

However before John Henry could set the timer, they both felt a change. Cameron and John Henry could sense the charge in the air. John Henry was scanning for the source but she had experienced it too many times not to know exactly what it was.

She raced through the tunnel and moved the charges from the door. She knocked down the door and came face to face with what was now an empty cot. John Henry came up behind her.

Cameron turned, "he is here. John is here."


	9. Eveything Is Relative

**I know its a small miracle. I have not abandoned it. Just been really blocked. I knew where I wanted to go with it but couldn't write to save my life. **

**Anyway hoping that this will lead to more regular updates.**

**Thanks for not giving up on this story.**

**Enjoy...**

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**10 Miles from Serrano Point – Resistance Base #4 – Northern Bunker Tunnels**

John woke up to complete darkness and immediately realized that he'd been blindfolded. He tried to open his eyes wider in an attempt to dislodge the cloth to get some leverage but whoever had put it on had done their job and put it on as tight as humanly possible.

Unable to see he instead strained his ears to glean anything of his new surroundings. Hearing nothing but a steady drip, he reclined as much as the bindings around his wrists allowed him but it was futile trying to find something to cut them with as whoever had brought him here made sure that there was nothing close by to help him free himself.

The place smelled too much of dirt and damp to be near the surface and he wondered how far down into the earth these tunnels really were and how long they were planning to leave him down here.

The last thing he remembered was Allison giving the keys to his father and uncle and then his father's fist coming at him fast and hard.

A hard metal door scraped against the floor and he twisted towards the sound. He tried to shout out to whoever was coming in but they had gagged him as well and all he could do was bite the fabric and make some sort of noise.

Booted footsteps came closer and he blinked as the blindfold was yanked harshly off his eyes. He let his eyes adjust and found Catherine Weaver standing no more than a few feet from him with a finger to her lips. She loosen the gag and lowered it so he could talk.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked harshly.

The terminator pulled up a chair and sat across from him, "I was looking around."

"You were looking around? I thought I was supposed to help you. How am I going to do that trapped in here?"

Catherine got up and undid his binds. "You are no longer trapped Mr. Connor. So you may be of help to me now."

"Are you kidding? They don't trust me as it is, me escaping won't help my cause with them."

"You aren't meant to help them. We came for John Henry and I have already located him."

John rubbed his wrists to get the circulation going. "You found him already?"

"That is correct now let us go."

"Wait, what about my father and uncle Derek."

For once Catherine showed an emotion and John wasn't too happy to identify it as pity. "They cannot come with us. It will cause complications."

"What kind of complications?"

"We do not need more than one Reese in the past."

"One? Try none but then you wouldn't know that. When we saved what we thought was your daughter, my Uncle Derek was shot and killed. So we can take them both."

"I am very aware of what occurred in my home but Derek Reese is alive and currently helping Sarah Connor and Mr. Ellison as we speak."

"I saw his body."

"Human bodies are easy to replicate. I needed him alive. The probability of him surviving the machine sent was low so I took his place and let you believe he perished. This insured his survival for mine and your eventual return."

"Wait…you knew about the terminator coming for Savannah?"

"Yes it was the only logical after one failed to kill me directly."

"When?"

"Several days earlier in the garage of Zeiracorp. We must go."

"I can't I haven't found Cameron."

"I have found her as well. She is with John Henry. They are headed this way."

John forgetting that he was supposed to be captive and silent shouted. "How long?" Catherine didn't answer. She opened the door instead and waited for him to move but he wasn't going anywhere until he got an answer from her. "How long?"

"A day ago. She and John Henry should be here soon. We must go Mr. Connor."

"I can't. Not yet. These people need my help."

"They will disappear as soon as we leap back."

"I can't take that chance."

"Allison must be taken for your Cameron to exist. If you interfere than she will disappear. She is not necessary for my mission. The choice is yours, Mr. Connor."

"I can't. I have to try to help my family." He said and sat back down resolutely.

Weaver shook her head but retied him. "You have two weeks and I will return for you with or without your cooperation."

"I understand." John replied.

"Good luck, Mr. Connor."

Weaver left and he closed his eyes again. The familiar sound of the door scraping against the floor woke him and again he looked around blindly.

The fabric was pulled from his face and he blinked in the sudden light of the overhead light. Weaver hadn't bothered with the lights when she'd been here earlier and being underground John had no clue how long it been since she'd left him.

"John, what are you doing here?"

He blinked some more and Allison's face came into focus. "I'm being interrogated," he replied.

"Why did you come here? Why didn't you trust me?" She asked.

"Trust you? I barely know you."

"Did you forget me already?" she asked sadly.

"Cameron!" he said and struggled to get out of his binds. She cut them and he fell forward into her arms. She enveloped him and he knew that it was his Cam and it dawned on him what a dangerous situation they were now in. "You have to get out of here."

"I can't leave you here. You've been seriously hurt." She said running her hands over his injured shoulder.

"I'll survive but if they find you, they will kill you. I won't lose you again." He shouted.

"I'm a machine. I can't be killed."

"Don't say that. You are not a machine. You are Cameron. You are my wife." He said desperate to continue holding her but so afraid they would find her here. "Please, Cam. Leave for me. Go back with Weaver. She'll be back for me."

"No. I will not leave you. I can't-"

"So this is Cameron." The man in the doorway interrupted. Startled John and Cameron turned to him.

Cameron stood up first and placed herself protectively in front of John. "That's not necessary," John said from behind her but he wasn't totally sure. His uncle was looking her over as if trying to figure out where a bullet would do the most damage. It was a look he'd seen many times in the past.

"It's not." Derek said and lowered his weapon and closed the metal door effectively blocking the doorway with his body. "So you're Cameron."

She stood tall and looked him square in the eye. "I am."

"And what are you to him." Derek motion to the boy behind her.

"I'm his wife." She said proudly while sneaking a quick glance at John. She was glad he didn't resemble the broken man she'd been forced to terminate earlier but she was also terrified that he'd risked himself this way for her. She was supposed to protect him especially from himself.

"I see. And what are you exactly?" Derek said pointing his gun at her.

"She's the one I came for." John said stepping out from behind Cameron and blocking her from Derek.

Cameron took her eyes off Derek and saw how John was struggling to stay upright. "Sit. You're hurt and need to rest." She sat him on the chair and checked him over.

He stilled her hands and she looked questioningly at him. "I've missed you."

"I did too." She said and kissed him lightly. He tried to deepen the kiss but he was still recuperating and the motion of trying to hold her to him made him wince.

"I have to get you out of here." She said softly.

"Nobody is going anywhere until I get answers." Derek said reminding them that they were not alone. He watched them with anger but it wasn't the uncontrollable kind that they'd known from the original Derek Reese.

"You have not been in Century." She said matter of factly and John groaned at her bluntness.

"What do you know of Century?"

Derek asked moving his weapon a little closer to Cameron than John was comfortable with. Seeing that Cameron would no doubt give a straight answer, John interceded. "Century doesn't matter right now. What do you want to know?"

Derek looked at her than at him. "How did you get here? And why do you know my brother and me? And why does she look like Allison?"

John motioned to Cameron and she moved past Derek and placed herself against the door to keep anybody from coming in. "I came here with a T-1000 in the TDE machine. You are my uncle and Kyle is my father and she…" John pointed at Cameron, "was modeled after Allison Young to bring down the resistance Leader.

"She was made to bring down General Rydex?" Derek asked ignoring all the other answers.

'**Figures, ever the soldier,' **thought John. "No, she was made to bring down me, John Connor."

"John, we have company." Cameron said inching the door open.

"Who?" Derek and John asked simultaneously.

"Your father and Allison Young."


	10. New Missions, Old Pros

**I know another update. Ok, it wasn't that quick but at least its in the same month.  
**

**Enjoy...  
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**Overton Public Library – 2005 – 11:00pm**

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Derek asked looking over the quiet building.

"Weaver told me that this Eric Michaels, works here and is somehow very important in the future. He might be able to help us restore Cameron and I know neither you or I or Sarah, have the technical expertise to put John Henry in a temporary body."

"Fine, let's get it over with." Derek grumbled.

"I'll go and you stay here. I have a feeling you'd scare Michaels." Ellison said eyeing the gun in Derek's hand. "I'll be back soon and hopefully the guy won't think I'm crazy."

Derek shooed him away and slid into the driver's seat. He waited until Ellison was at the back entrance before starting the SUV and parking beneath a big tree to wait.

Ellison saw Derek start and park the SUV and was glad that he'd decided to bring the soldier with him. He had to admit that having someone like Reese along would help in the coming weeks.

He took one last quick check and knocked. It took three more knocks for the door to be popped open. A middle age woman came out. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Eric Michaels. I'm a friend of Cameron's and she's could really use his help."

The woman scowl of suspicion instantly cleared at Cameron's name. "Oh yes. I'm so glad you came. Eric's been awful worried since she didn't show up yesterday like usual."

'**Usual?'**

"Please come in. He's in his office, I'll take you to him." The woman went up the stairs chitchatting about how nice it was to know that Cameron was reaching out and what a lovely girl she was and how glad she was that Eric and Cameron had gotten so close.

Ellison made all the appropriate noises as the woman gave him a very clear yet disturbing picture of Cameron's relationship with this Eric Michaels. Ellison wondered if Eric knew what she really was and if young John knew what she'd been doing while he wasn't around.

He somehow doubted that the hotheaded younger Connor would have condoned it if he had. He didn't strike Ellison as the sharing type.

Ellison and the woman, whose name was Margie; stopped at landing on the third floor and she told him that Eric was at the end of the row. He thanked her and she excused herself.

He walked down the aisles and encountered Eric sitting at a back table reading. The man looked up from the many manuals and books surrounding him. "Can I help you?"

The man wasn't anything like what Ellison had expected. First, he was very young, there was no way he was any older than twenty-five. Second, he didn't remotely resemble someone who had what it took to be in the upper echelons of a military operation, which Weaver assured Ellison, he was.

"My name is Ellison and I have a question for you Mr. Michaels."

The man put down his book and took off his glasses, "is it will I join you?" Ellison stared back open mouthed and Eric chuckled, "I already have, Mr. Ellison."

"_Hi, Cameron. Are you here to see Eric?" Margie asked._

"_He promised to show me the Reference section this time." Cameron replied._

"_Well you know where he is. I'll be going home in a few minutes so tell Eric not to forget to lock up ok?"_

_Cameron nodded and made her way up to the third floor where Eric's office was situated. "Hey."_

_He saw her in the doorway and wheeled around the desk. "Hi, I wasn't expecting you for another half hour. Ready to get to work?"_

"_I am."_

"_Good because we have a lot to do. We'll start in Reference and work our way down to micro film and newspapers."_

_She agreed and got behind his chair. He'd gotten used to her long silences and had learned not to think anything of them but this felt different. She seemed pre-occupied and her abrupt stop less than two feet from where they were supposed to start, made him ask, "Cammi? Are you ok?"_

"_Why do you call me that?" she asked._

"_It's a nickname. Cameron is kind of a mouthful and well I think Cammi suits you better."_

"_Eric, do you really like me?" He didn't answer right away and she let go of his chair and kneeled in front of him. "Would you call me a friend?"_

"_Of course. What's going? Is everything ok at home? Did you have a fight with your brother?"_

_Cameron got up but kept eye contact. "He chose Riley over me."_

_Eric held her hand and led her to a nearby table. Over the last few weeks she'd slowly been telling him about Riley and what a bad influence she was on her poor brother. Cameron had told him about the girl's botched suicide attempt at their house and how that was the reason she'd been at the hospital._

_She told him how she'd begged John to break it off but that he'd ignored her and now he was barely speaking to her. She had tried to hide how much it had bothered her but Eric had always been good at reading people and Cameron felt comfortable enough to confide in him, which made it easier._

_She sat and the way she stared brokenly at her boots, Eric knew right there that his first impression of John acting like a jealous boyfriend had been correct. "John isn't your brother, is he?"_

_She shook her head and he took a deep breath, "are you and him…did…"_

"_We are, we were before Riley." She said answering the question he couldn't seem to finish asking. _

"_Do you love him?" he asked resigned that he could never be anything but her friend. "Does he love you?"_

"_He is everything to me," she said._

_Eric might only be her friend now but that didn't erase the worry he'd always had about her complete and utter devotion to John. Especially when it looked like John had done little to deserve it. "That doesn't answer the question. You can't stay with him if you have no idea how much he cares about you. It's not fair to you or to him."_

"_I was made for him." She said._

"_He still has to earn your love. You should never give it away. You're too special for that."_

"_He says I'm special. He says I've saved his life. He must be grateful right?"_

_Eric held her hand and asked as gently as possible, "Cammi, has he hurt you?"_

"_He has but he had to. It was my fault." _

"_That is a terrible way to live. You have to leave him. He is not good for you. I've seen what happens to girls in your situation. It never ends well. Either he'll kill you or you'll kill him."_

"_I know but I have to protect him. He is my mission."_

_Eric stared at her. He wasn't fully sure that she understood what he was trying to explain to her or she was much too deeply involved that she couldn't or didn't want to shake loose from him. "He is not more important than you." He held both her hands now wiling her to understand. "He'll be the death of you if you continue."_

"_I know. I'm prepared for that and more. I will sacrifice everybody for him."_

_Eric dropped her hands and backed up, "even me."_

"_Yes. Even you but I don't want to."_

"_Then I can't help you." He said._

"_You have to. I can't exist like this without you help. You are too important."_

_With strength he didn't think it was possible for a girl her size to have, Cameron picked him up, wheelchair and all. Bewildered he stayed mute as she walked up the stairs and to the roof. For a horrible moment, he actually thought she would threaten to throw him off if he didn't agree to help._

_Instead set him down and stood at the edge. "Eric Michaels, will you join us?" she asked stepping onto the lip of the roof waiting for his answer._

"_What are you crazy? Come down from there."_

"_Will you join us?"_

"_Join who?" he asked desperately inching closer to pull her back._

_She put a foot out over the edge, "will you join the resistance? Will you join me and help John Connor?"_

_Eric nodded and grazed the very tip of her fingers unable to hold onto her as she jumped. He screamed her name. He slammed his chair into the wall in an attempt get closer and look over the edge even though he was afraid to see what had become of the poor screwed up girl he'd befriended._

"_I am not hurt." She said from below him._

_He leaned and saw her climb up the fire escape until she was standing right in front of him. "I lied to you. My name is Cameron. I am a cybernetic organism. I traveled back in time from the year 2034 at the command of the leader of the Resistance, one John Connor. You are one of his most valuable tech engineers. You helped me be who I am and you will help me in this time so that we may aid John in his battle with Skynet."_

"_Is this a joke? Because if it is. Its not funny." He said wheeling away from her._

_Cameron ran in front of him, blocking his exit. Her brown eyes faded and she let the blue of her real machine ones show. "I need your help, Eric and you are my only friend."_

"_Ok, lets say I believe your crazy story. I know next to nothing about computers. Not to mention that I am a librarian and in a wheelchair. I am not a soldier in any way, shape or form."_

"_I know and that's why I need you," she said but stepped aside to let him pass. _

"_I don't want to be involved in whatever the hell is going with you. I want you to leave." He cried._

"_I have no one else." She said and it stopped him._

"_What do you mean? Don't you have John?"_

"_He belongs to the Resistance. He cannot be solely mine. I have no one but you in the future. You are the only one that sees what I can be beside him. Please."_

_He sighed thinking that it was too easy for him to keep getting hooked in by this odd girl, "Ok. I'll try my best to help you. Tell me everything first and then I'll help."_

"_Thank you." She said and pulled him up and into a hug. He made a small sound of protest but she quickly dropped him back into his chair._

"_Ow. You are freakishly strong."_

"_Sorry." She said and this time she asked for permission. He sat straighter and she picked him and went back down to the third floor. On the way she explained about Skynet and Judgment Day and Cyberdyne and the TDE machine and Sarah Connor._

_She told him everything he needed to know about John and his role but most importantly to Eric she told him about her and what she had started out as. What he had helped her become and her role in the resistance and therefore his survival._

"_So when does this all happen?" he asked trying to absorb the fact that technology had declared a war against humanity in the near future and that he was a key part to helping humans win. _

"_Judgment Day has been postponed on several occasions but we do not know if it can be stopped. It originally happened a few years ago but Sarah blew up Cyberdyne and it altered the timeline. It was stopped again when I brought Sarah and John forward."_

"_Are you the only one of your kind?"_

"_There are other terminators but my particularly model is... I am the only one. I have the most advanced neuro net but I have had glitches that need to be taken care of. That is why I told you the truth today. I can no longer control some of my machinery and I need to be fully functional to do my job."_

"_Protecting John, right?"_

"_Right."_

"_Where will I learn all this?"_

"_I will teach you a little about my systems and ensure you are exposed to the right amounts of radiation to promote your remission." Cameron picked him up from his chair and sat him on table. _

_She then grabbed two lower tables and combined them beneath his so that she could lay her head on his lap. "You will need to cut here," she said pointing to the right side of her scalp with the box cutter she'd pulled from her pocket, "to see my chip."_

"_Cut, here? I don't know about this Cammi." Eric said holding the blade of the box cutter to her scalp._

"_It's okay, Eric. You do this a lot," she said curling her own hand around his and pressing down hard._

_A thin rivulet of blood coated his hand and he yelped in surprise. "Geez, did I hurt you?" _

_She squeezed his hand encouragingly, "keep pressing and form a semi circle an inch to the left."_

_Eric followed her instructions, "now what?"_

"_You'll see my port covering. Open it but don't remove the chip." _

_He did as she asked and soon found himself staring into the silver surface that protected Cameron's personality. "So I do this a lot? Am I any good at it?" he asked tentatively running his finger around the circumference of the port to test the thickness of it._

_Cameron's whole body shivered. "You do this a lot and are almost as good as John. You cut a much smoother circle," she explained._

"_I aim to please. So this radiation will ensure that I stay in remission?" Eric asked_

"_Yes, you are important to the Resistance and to John's army."_

_He closed the port and gently patted the skin down. "Am I important to just them?" _

_She looked up directly into his blue eyes and he knew then, that he would always do whatever was needed to help her become more aware and be seen as the person he saw, "you are very important to me, Eric Michaels."_

"_You are important to me too."_

"Glad to hear. I didn't know how I was going to explain the whole machines from the future and not sound nuts. It is important that you come with me now, it's become much too dangerous to leave you here and if anybody finds out what you do it could get you killed."

"Where is Cammi?"

"Where do you suppose she is?"

"With John." Eric answered not bothering to hide his bitterness. "Are we going to meet them?"

"In a way. But you cannot return here, your life depends on it."

"That is so true, Mr. Ellison."

Eric and James turned around to face Margie pointing a gun at them both. "I knew the moment you touched that metal bitch and agreed to help her that you were a goner. I was planning on killing you and her together but I things happened sooner that was expected and since I hadn't seen her for a while, I might as well take care of the pair of you."

"Margie what are you doing? This is insane."

"Insane? Me? I'm not the one making out with a machine."

Ellison looked at Eric and he saw that his suspicions had been correct. "You and her? Did John know?"

"There was nothing to know. Cameron and I were friends."

"Friends don't kiss friends or sit in their laps and snuggle. That thing used you and you fell for it same as the stupid Connor boy. But what do you expect from a bunch of men when you send a pretty girl."

"Margie, listen to me." Eric said advancing slowly.

"Not one more step. I will shoot you. You have no idea what you are doing. What she does to Connor. How she manipulates him, how she risks us all and he lets her. Well everybody I loved and respected died for that foolish man and if I have to, at least I know I took out one of her favorites."

"Still playing fetch for Jessie, huh marg." Derek said from behind her.

"Did you at least have the decency to shoot while she was looking at you? Or did you stab in the back like old times?" Margie asked not removing her gun from Ellison or Eric.

"I shot her while she ran away. Like she always did. Never could stick to a plan but you could."

"When did you figure it out?"

"It wasn't hard especially after the little blonde showed up. Jessie would have needed time to establish herself here and she would have needed an ally. And you are the only person who ever truly believed her rantings about what happened in that sub." Derek stepped closer and pressed the gun to the back of head.

"You ready to let your nephew stay with the machine. I've seen that future and it's not pretty."

"I lived there too and its not but its all we knew and Connor, regardless of how twisted and fucked up it is, deserves to have something he loves after risking himself over and over for the rest of us."

"It was our end, Derek."

"Our end came when we ceased trusting him. Put down the gun marg. There is only one way this will end and I rather not kill another friend."

"I don't see you that way anymore, Reese."

Eric and Ellison instinctively curled as the shot rang out, to protect themselves but it was not necessary. The woman was at Derek's feet and a pool of blood was rapidly spreading beneath her sprawled body.

"Was she really a friend of yours?" Eric couldn't help asking.

"Once. Let's go."

Derek left and Ellison and Eric gathered a few things from his office knowing full well that he would not be coming back. They rode the elevator in silence and it wasn't until Eric was locking up that Ellison got the courage to ask him. "Do you know how Cameron works?"

"Yes but that won't help. She is a learning cyber organism and as such she is evolving."

"Evolving? In what way?"

Eric waited until he was situated in the SUV to answer, "she is learning about human nature. What keeps us with one particular person, what keeps that person with us. All of her old Skynet programming had taught her that John Connor, would be her be all or end all. That has changed. I've seen it how her perimeters have been opened and she'll want to explore what he means to her independent of the coming war. With her neuro net not longer tethered she'll have to make a decision about whether her best choice is to stay or leave."

"She won't protect him anymore?" Derek asked alarmed.

"No, she'll protect him but she may not love him the way she does now and if that happens John might not retain what is necessary for the human race to survive."

"He'll lose hope. In my time he was a selfish cold bastard."

"If Cameron leaves, that will be the most likely outcome." Eric said quietly.

"Then she can't be allowed to leave him." Derek said and mashed the gas pedal. He had no idea how to tell his mother that Cameron had more power over John than she ever had before and they had been responsible in giving it to her.


	11. Discoveries and Revelations

**I know its an update! Wow. I'm quite proud of this one. It will explain some things and leave you wondering about others. Next chapter before the month's end. ****I promise (Feel free to send me hate mail or terminators if I don't deliver.)**

**Eric Michaels will pop up again. He is important but nothing will go on between him and Cammi. She is all John's and who am I to stand in the way of the leader of mankind but he does have to work for it.**

**Enjoy...**

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**10 Miles from Serrano Point – Resistance Base #4 – Northern Bunker Tunnels**

"John?" Cameron asked watching Allison and Kyle coming closer.

"I'm thinking." John said but he didn't need to look around to know that there really was nowhere Cameron could hide or any way Allison could avoid seeing her.

"Stand by the door. Derek when they come in make sure the door remains open so Cameron can hide behind it."

Cameron did as she was ordered and pressed herself as flat to the wall as possible while Derek actually listened and held the door wide open. He even stood between the gap at edge of the door and the rock face concealing Cameron a little more. John was very grateful this Derek was more willing to help.

"Hey little brother."

"Derek what are you doing here?" Kyle asked looking between his brother and John.

"Just checking on the boy. Rydex said he was being watched by Sanders and you know how much Sanders enjoys punishments."

Kyle grimaced. "The last time Sanders punished someone we lost the guy a few days later from internal bleeding. Good thing you came to check. So status?"

"He's a little banged up but not much. His arm is still shot to shit but he's conscious."

Kyle listened to the report and then peered into John's face. "How are you, kid? Sorry I hit you so hard but I figured you'd be a fighter and I didn't want to take the chance you'd hurt yourself more."

John grunted but didn't dare look up. If he were really lucky, Kyle would leave after they checked on him and he'd be able to think of a way to get Cameron out and back with Weaver before Derek spilled the beans.

Of course he'd forgotten all about Allison and she'd more than made her presence known. She came in quietly at first. Her hands held his food rations and a tin mug of water, which she set on the table. She then took of a satchel that had been slung over her shoulder and she began unpacking it onto the only other available surface.

He realized that she was probably one of the medics around here and would no doubt have to tend to him. He didn't need to see Cameron to feel her outrage that he was being cared for by her of all people.

Allison completely unaware of the glare being sent her way slowly kneeled to undue his bindings.

"Why are you untied?" she whispered and pretended to undue the fabric dangling from his wrists.

"Derek was checking me over." John whispered back.

"Derek wouldn't have done that without orders from Kyle. Don't worry." She said pressing her mouth close to his ear. "I won't tell. I'm good at keeping secrets."

John smiled tightly and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Derek plant his feet a little more solidly against the metal door. Kyle looked over at Derek but the older Reese kept a blank face.

"I'm gonna have to get you up so I can see if there is any permanent damage from being down here. Can you stand on your own or do you need me to help you?"

Now John tried valiantly to stop the trembling in his body and grit his teeth at the pins and needles sensations in his legs but he'd not been able to move about or really do anything for long periods of time.

In fact Sanders had only given him about half an hour every day to stretch and do everything else before tying him back down. Torture hadn't started yet and for that he was relieved but it still made it very difficult to hold his body up, given the fact that he was still recuperating, and the weight of it was too much and he folded down.

Allison fortunately had decided to hold onto to him just in case and his landing was bit softer. "I was afraid you might collapse. No matter, luckily you seem to not have any lasting damage other than your arm. I need you to reach forward as far as you can and touch my shoulder then I'll change your bandages."

Allison had barely finished her sentence when the door was pushed violently and out came Cameron shoving Derek out of her way and roughly hauling Allison away from the shocked John.

It was in this stunned silence that Derek had the foresight to lock the door and Kyle stood confused and looking back and forth between Cameron and Allison. Cameron had made John sit again and was possessively keeping a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

Allison had just managed to get up from the ground and was staring in disbelief at Cameron.

"Well the shit has hit the fan now." Derek said leaning nonchalantly on the door.

John tired of being held instead stood, wobbly but on his own despite Cameron's insistent suggestions to rest. Instinct told him that she was trying very hard not to make him seem weak by holding on to his arm and he gestured to her with gratitude in his eyes. "Guys, this is Cameron Connor."

"Hello." Cameron replied.

Kyle waved uncertainly, Derek tipped his gun at her in a strange salute and Allison got closer. "This is Cameron?" she asked eyeing the much curvier brunette.

"Yes, I am."

"This is the woman you were looking for?" Kyle said still confused as to how why there seemed to be two Allison Youngs. "Is she related to Allison?"

"Um…no."

"That's a good question, why does she look like Allison?" Derek said.

"You remember how I mentioned that I come from the past."

Everybody nodded well except for Allison who was still staring dumbfounded at Cameron. John ignored her because he really wasn't sure how he was going to broach that particular connection and frankly he didn't care too much about Allison right now to bother.

He was more focused on keeping his Cam in one piece.

"Earlier I made the comment that you guys were like family. That's not actually true. You and Derek are my only remaining family and that is where it gets complicated. Kyle, you are my father and Derek is my uncle."

"How is that possible?"

"TDE technology…"

"TDE?" Kyle interrupted.

"Time Displacement Equipment. It is a machine which allows living tissue and mimetic polyalloy to be sent backwards and forwards in time." Cameron clarified.

John smiled at her and she grinned, the others didn't miss it.

"A time machine? Yeah tell me another." Derek muttered.

"As I was saying TDE technology allowed me in the future to send Kyle back to 1984 to protect my mother, Sarah Connor. In the process she became pregnant by him. This is why I am older than you."

"I'm 23," Kyle said.

"I look sixteen but a time jump of eight years saved my mother so in reality I am 24 and since I come from 2005, I'd be in my mid forties here."

Kyle took John's vacated chair and tried to wrap his mind around everything John was saying. "So you are older than me by like twenty years and I'm your father because you sent me back in time?"

"Don't think about it. It never really makes sense." John cautioned.

"What about her?" Derek pointed.

"Would you like me to explain?" Cameron asked John.

He gave her a tight smile reminiscent of his mother and she launched into the most basic explanation of her interaction with the teenage boy before them. "John is the Resistance leader in the future. Skynet has not been able to defeat him here so it has sent back terminators to the past to finish him. It did not work so they decided to infiltrate his camp by taking people he cared about and replicating them to find his weakness."

"Replicate? You mean copy them? Skynet is copying humans? They can do that?" Kyle said getting up and looking at John and Cameron in horror. Both nodded.

"Show them, Cam."

Cameron moved away from John and let her blue optical lenses glow. He noticed that only Derek remained where he was while Kyle pulled Allison protectively against him. She then lifted her sleeve and flipped a piece of her skin up leaving a patch of Coltan visible to the naked eye.

Kyle and Allison lifted their guns automatically but Derek bade them lower them with his own and curiously looked at the shiny metal infrastructure. He moved closer and rubbed a single finger against the servos and Cameron waited until he was done inspecting the gooey substance on his finger before adjusting the flap of skin and lowering her sleeve.

"So I was close to you in another future?" Allison asked cautiously glancing at the perfect version of her.

"You were one of my most trusted lieutenants along with Derek and Kyle." John said and she beamed.

Kyle hid a smirk and Derek once again leaned against the door nonchalantly, no doubt awaiting the imminent catfight, and he was not disappointed as Cameron snapped, "you knew detailed information that would help Skynet infiltrate the area. That is all, to John you were like a daughter."

Allison's smile soured and Kyle and Derek glanced at John as he wrapped his arm around Cameron's waist establishing that she was the one he cared for. The ploy worked and she stopped glaring at Allison but didn't vacate her position of bodyguard.

"I know that it doesn't make a lot of sense but I had not really intended for you two to meet."

"Why not?" Cameron and Allison asked simultaneously.

John shook his head. "It's bad to know too much of your own future. Believe me when I say that."

"Well regardless. I know now and although I have a lot of questions, we are running out of time and I still need to check your arm before any one else shows up to torture you for information."

"We are leaving." Cameron said almost tugging John from his good arm in her haste to stop any more abuse to her love.

"It'll be fine, Cam. I swear. Derek and Kyle will be here to keep an eye on things."

"Your arm must be looked at first," she said but reluctantly let go.

"She is right about that, we should see how your arm is healing. I should look you over especially since Sanders is on his way here. In fact he will be here any moment. You should all go. You especially." Allison said to Cameron.

"John is my charge I will not leave him. He must be taken care of properly if he is to avoid muscle or tissue damage. I am the best qualified for this. I have intimate and extensive knowledge of his body."

"Cam!" he said trying not to blush under the combined arched looks of the two other males in the room and Allison's own bewildered look.

"Look Cameron. I appreciate your expertise and offer but you cannot pass for me and I need to get Sanders away from John as soon as possible and if that means I have to physically drag you out of this room I will."

"You cannot. You do not have the strength nor will I allow you to stay alone with my husband. I've seen how you shadow him. You did it in my time as well, it's what got you captured."

"Husband?" Kyle asked. "You're married?"

"Yes." John said sheepishly. His embarrassed answer registered with Cameron, who looked annoyed.

"But you're sixteen. You're just a kid and she is…"Kyle trailed off not sure how to phrase it.

"It's a fucking machine, Kyle that what it is, plain and simple. Your son, my nephew, married a fucking machine instead of a real girl."

"I'm a real girl." Cameron said stepping closer to John.

"No you're not. I am." Allison said. "You are a copy of me. You said it yourselves."

"He does not nor will he ever love you like he does me." Cameron said gripping Allison's arm menacingly.

"Cameron. Let her go. She is not the reason I came here."

Cameron let go and shoved her into Kyle. "You are correct as always, John. I came for you and not these people. We have less than an hour before Weaver jumps back. We need to leave. John Henry and I got what we needed from this time."

"Cam. I can't leave." John said turning her to face him. "I have to help them. I can't just leave things as they are, they'll suffer if I disappear."

"They will disappear when we do. The future is changed when anybody comes through, I've told you this."

"Please, they are all the family I have left."

"I am your family." She said and delicately cupped his face, "I am what will keep you alive."

"I don't want to just exist. I need to do something beyond that. Weaver will come back for me in two weeks and I'll go then. Let me get to know them, do this for me."

She dropped her arms to her side and stepped back. "No. I will not obey that order. I have lost you already in this time. I will not do so again willingly."

"What do you mean you've lost me in this time?" he asked.

Cameron looked guiltily away while Kyle, Derek and Allison watched their conversation with wide eyes.

"I met the John of this time. I had to let him go before you appeared."

"Is that how you got your body back?" he asked.

"_What are you to me?"_

"_To you, nothing. To the Johns before you, I have been many things; slave, servant, weapon, confidant, escape, sacrifice."_

"_What will you be to me?"_

"_Peace."_

"_How?"_

"_That depends on whether you decide to trust me."_

"_I'll try."_

"Yes, he put me where I belong and I did my mission."

"What was your mission here? Since I know it wasn't retrieving me because I know you weren't expecting me to come after you."

"I cannot speak freely." She said motioning to their audience.

"How long were you with him before you found me?" John asked suspiciously.

"The time I needed to be."

"How many Johns have you protected?" Kyle asked softly unconsciously mimicking his past self's attempts to diffuse John's visible anger towards her.

"_That's all you can do. I am here for you. I will always be here for you." _

"_Why now, why not before?"_

"_This was the time, I was meant to be in."_

Cameron glad to not be the focus of John's dark green-eyed gaze answered his father. "I've cycled many times and my mission has never changed. I am to protect John at all times. I have met him approximately eighteen times but he is the first teenage John I have been with."

"So you've been with the others then. What are you? Some sort of seduction machine?" Allison asked obviously scandalized that a copy of her was a glorified whore and still wounded from John's earlier comment that he was here for Cameron and not her.

"I do whatever is necessary to ensure John's co-operation to keep him safe."

"So in other words, you have slept with most of them," Allison snapped. "Interesting programming from this Skynet thing, that is definitely one way for it to get what it wants."

Cameron hung her head ashamed that what she was saying was partially true. Yes she had seduced some of the John's but not all and she had loved all of them in her own way. This John above all others, he was the only one that had ever truly freed her and allowed her to grow and be herself, that made him special.

"No that's not what she meant." John protested but he saw the painful truth in Cameron's eyes.

"You mentioned a John from this time, were you with that one too?" Derek wondered aloud.

"_Thank you, Cameron."_

"_I will always do what you need John. I love you."_

"The John of this time was damaged. I helped him go in peace once I completed my objective."

"Cameron, did you kill him?" her John asked.

"Yes. I did. He was ready to die."

"How did you?"

"I forced his heart to give out."

"I bet you did." Allison muttered and John glared at her.

"Did you?"

"_Will it hurt? _

"_Dying? I do not know. I have never watched you die," she said. _

"_My wife…Katherine was pregnant. She was six months in. I had just met Marcus."_

"_Go on it will help to talk about it." _

"_I didn't trust him at first. We'd never seen one that was part human."_

"_He was the first and only."_

"_He gave me his heart when mine was damaged," he said quietly._

"_What happened after?" she asked sliding down in the bed to lie beside him._

_He looked at her in surprise and she scooted closer draping her bare leg over his clothed one. "We buried him near our base. We were attacked that night and Katherine was still outside. She was tending to the injured and she didn't see the drone. I didn't even know she was gone until the next night. I was so caught up in the fight and I didn't-"_

_Cameron withdrew from him and sat up so all he could see was her bare back. "It wasn't your fault. The drones are built for just that. They overwhelm the men long enough to gather intel and take prisoners. You were doing what you always do. You were protecting them."_

"_I always save everybody but the people I care about. Is it always that way?"_

_She turned and he glanced at the mark on her chest. "I made this mark to prove a point to your younger self. He asked me if I was responsible for his mother having cancer. He didn't trust me so I cut myself open and let him see for himself."_

"_Why are you telling me this?" he asked tracing the neat line. _

"_Being John Connor is lonely. You have lost the closest to you. That is why I am here. I am to find a way to end the disease that kills your mother. I am here so that you aren't alone, so that any of your sacrifices from the past and the future of my time are not repeated but I need you to want this."_

"_I can't. Katherine…" he said and swallowed. "She hasn't even been gone for very long."_

"_I don't want you to love me. I want you to let go and let me give you one moment of release." She said and held his rough hand in hers. "I need you to let me comfort you before your end."_

"_Why?" he yelled yanking his hand from hers. "Why can't you kill me and just be done with it."_

_He made a move to swing out of the bed but she stopped him. "I have never killed you. My whole existence I have fought it."_

_He turned and was shocked to see tears too fat to be fully human rolling down her face. "You really love me? You're really capable of that?"_

"_I am capable of anything because of you. When I was in that explosion I tried to kill you. Your mother caught me before I could and she and your uncle would have burned me. You asked to do it and instead replaced my chip and let me decide."_

"_I don't understand."_

"_My chip, my body, my software is designed to terminate humans. My hardware is designed to terminate humans. Maybe not now but it was always going to be there because that is my sole function. When he let me choose, everything inside of me told me to terminate him but his trust allowed me to override my own system and I choose for the first time in my life. He set me free with that simple action."_

"_He set you free so now you want to do the same but I'm not him."_

"_No, but you are would he would become without those closest to him. I can't save you now but I can make sure that your losses weren't in vain. That going against everything you taught me wasn't without consequences. I will have to carry your death with me. Let me carry the best form of it."_

"_Marcus said that being human was about what was inside here." He shifted her hair to the left of her head and tapped the side of her port. "He said that intentions and feelings and knowing what to fight for made us human. I guess he was right and I owe him a debt of gratitude I can never repay. You said he was your father, right?"_

"_Yes, once Skynet figured why he turned, they made several upgrades and more prototypes. I was the only one that was finished and sent on." She leaned into his touch unaware that the tears were still falling._

"_There was a woman that fell in love with him. You look like her." John said his breath getting shallow and it was clear his body wouldn't last much longer as he wiped them away and slid his whiskered cheek against hers with tenderness._

"_My personality is a mix of her and Allison." She responded._

"_I can tell. She told me off a couple of times too. She would have liked you."_

"_Did you like her?"_

"_Yes I did." _

"_20:34.9." John Henry said from somewhere outside their little space._

"_We are running out of time." She said but it was lost among the feel of his war toughened hands running along the line of her spine._

"_I know, tell me something about my mother that I don't know." He asked and she helped him get back into the bed. Cameron lay down wrapping an arm around his middle and laying her head on his chest. _

"_I showed her what you looked like in the future. She's never seen you older than twenty-two."_

"_What did she say?"_

"_She said you looked handsome and that she was very proud of you."_

"_That doesn't sound like my mother." He said laughing lightly but enough to make his body convulse. She scanned him and knew that infection had been raging in his body long before she'd gotten here._

"_She also said you looked older than you should and that you were obviously stressed out."_

"_That sounds better."_

_Cameron pushed at the pink inflamed skin and grew angry for not noticing how sick he really was but even when lifting accusing eyes to him, John couldn't help but admire her. "You really are very beautiful. I can see why I married you."_

"_You married me because I love you and you love me." She said and pressed her mouth against his. John pulled her fully on top of him._

"_If you don't want to…"_

"_It will be over soon." John said. He kissed her again but it wasn't tentative or gentle. It was firm and full of passion that was taxing his already fragile body but he didn't care and the least she could do was give him this moment of sweetness before his death._

_His hands wandered onto her shoulders and down her arms and without a word spoken between them Cameron slipped off his pants and discarded them before straddling him again. He struggled to sit up and she helped him remove his shirt. _

"_Do we…_

"_No worries, Cam."_

_She nodded and no more was said about anything in the past, present or future. Right now it was only about him and her and this moment of pure adoration._

_It was about his bare hands on her smooth hips and her petite frame urging him on as they rocked together to find that last bit of heaven before their hell began. It was about the sound and sight of that hair thrown back and the long column of skin that trembled when she shouted his name. It was about his beautiful green eyes alive with something other than despair._

_He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck and she muffled her voice against his hair. "Let it out, John."_

"_I'm sorry Cameron. I'm sorry Katherine. I'm so sorry I failed."_

_Cameron smoothed his hair and let his tears run down her body and mix with their sweat. "You've never failed anybody."_

"_Thank you." He said still sniffling but calmer than he'd been. _

"_Your welcome. Katherine wouldn't want you to suffer and neither do I."_

_Cameron kissed the top of his head and snapped his neck in one smooth motion. John's arms slid from her body and he slumped against her. She gently climbed off him and laid his form back onto the bed. She put the pillow under his head and smoothed back his hair. _

_If anybody had looked in it would have looked like he was just taking a nap and she was tucking him in._

_She took the same knife that he had used to cut open John Henry and made a small incision in her chest on the same line he'd touched earlier. Cameron wiped the blood from her knife and widened the skin until she could fit her hand and remove a canister no bigger than her fist._

_She then quickly made a matching cut on John's chest. She faltered when she had to open him up and had to wipe tears out of her vision as his still warm temperature appeared in her screen. _

_Her hand slowly reached in and carefully cut out John's heart. She looked at the organ and then John's peaceful face. "You once said I had your heart. I guess I do now and I'll keep it safe, I promise."_

_She released the sob and put down the heart carefully on the table just in time to avoid crushing it as her hand spasmed and she collapsed to the ground. She had never killed John. She had sworn to protect him but she failed and now…_

**"**_**Cameron. Stand up and finish your job."**__ A voice said and Cameron shakily rose to her feet._

_In her distress her memory bank had pulled up a video feed from before. It was from her last future and it showed a very angry redhead standing over her as she lay sitting at Connor's hospital door._

**"_Did you hear me? Get up and do your job."_**

**"_But John is injured." She heard herself say._**

**"_John is a tough man and is recovering. You need to go and keep an eye on Kyle like he ordered you too."_**

**"_John was hurt on my watch."_**

**"_No he wasn't. He was hurt accidentally."_**

**"_Accidents are not part of my programming," her other self said._**

**"_That's why they are called accidents, they can't be planned. Go and I'll watch over him."_**

**"_My job-"_**

**"_Is to follow orders and in John's absence I am in command."_**

**"_Yes, Mrs. Connor."_**

**"_Kate, call me Kate."_**

**"_Kate."_**

**"_Cameron, you are the best person to watch over him. If you ever have any doubts talk to me."_**

**"_I don't have doubts. I am not human."_**

**"_I wouldn't be too sure of that but either way if you ever don't know what to do. Talk to me."_**

**"_Yes Katherine."_**

_The memory was restored to its original place and Cameron resumed her mission. "I had doubts but not anymore. I will protect him. I will make sure he is taken care of." _

_Cameron removed the outer layer of tissue and slit the Aorta open. Inside was a cylindrical tube. She put the tube in the canister and turned it until she heard a distinct click. She then put the canister back in her chest and into the chamber nestled in her own artificial heart._

_She carefully replaced the heart, stitched up his skin and redressed what had once been General Connor. Cameron wiped the knife stuck it back on the shelf and pressed one last kiss to the General's forehead. She lifted the blanket and tucked him in and said goodbye._

_0:54.9 seconds flashed on her screen and Cameron walked out of the bunker._

"Did I what?" she asked pulling back from what she had done.

"Don't do that. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm asking," he said.

"I do what is necessary to complete my mission. What I do to make that happen is irrelevant."

Kyle stepped in between the two Connors, "look whatever happened is now over. I suggest you leave and come back later Cameron. Allison is right, Sanders will be here any minute and we don't want Rydex knowing anything about you or John's connection to you."

"You are wise as always, Kyle Reese. I will leave as you asked John."

"Cameron, this conversation is not over. I expect you to tell me what happened at some point. I can't promise I won't get mad but nothing will change how I feel about you."

She nodded and left the room without a backwards glance.

"You really love her don't you?" Derek asked. John nodded and Allison and Kyle shook their heads. "I guess if you really are our only hope, at least with her around, you'll be protected at all times."

John had seen how she'd checked out when they'd been talking. **'Obviously her neuro net being fully open and without parameters had compromised her systems but to what extent?' **She'd done it before when they had been at the funeral for that warehouse fire his mom had been involved in.

Cameron had explained that it happened whenever she had memories of the other Johns. **'Why do I get the feeling that something has changed?'**


End file.
